Group backs PNoy’s bid for postponement of ARMM polls

A peace and development movement vows to support President Benigno Aquino III administration’s bid for the postponement of the Autonomous Region in Muslin Mindanao elections slated in August this year. In a statement released on Friday, ARMM Social Action Movement (ASAM) president Sultan Bobby M. Datimbang also said the group is asking that President Aquino be given a mandate to appoint officers-in-charge should Congress vote to postpone the polls. “The postponement of the ARMM 2011 polls, together with the appointment by the president of OICs for the various offices, is a great opportunity for reforms and lasting change that would pave the way for the region to be truly autonomous," Datimbang said. He was referring to some claims that the postponement and the subsequent appointment of officials in the region could turn out to be “threats" to autonomy and might become a “dangerous precedent" as it defeats the purpose of representation. But Datimbang said that so far, those who oppose the postponement measure may not be very familiar with the political culture and reality in the ARMM, adding that past elections in the region had been widely criticized for widespread irregularities. “Irregularities in past elections had trampled on the people’s right to suffrage and weakened the principle of representation as a pillar of democracy," he stressed. According to him, a much better step to institute political reforms in the ARMM is “to give the president a clear mandate to appoint competent and sincere people whio could complement the chief executive’s fight against graft and corruption." He also urged Congress to act immediately on the postponement measure as it is certified urgent by the president. For his part, ASAM’s secretary general Abdul Raur Pamaloy said that all of the movement’s provincial, city and municipal action officers have pledged support for the move for ARMM polls’ postponement. “The movement’s officers are very supportive of the efforts of our president Sultan Bobby Datimbang for the success of the campaign to postpone the ARMM polls this year," he said. Malacañang is moving to reset the date of the ARMM polls from Aug. 8 this year to May 2013. The bill for the postponement of the ARMM election was one of 23 priority measures the Palace submitted to legislators at the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting earlier this year. Opposition Some senators have voiced opposition to the bill to postpone the ARMM elections. Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., chair of the committee on local government deliberating on the measure, said postponement and the subsequent appointment of officials to run the region for more than a year as proposed in Senate Bill (SB) 2756 seem to be "problematic." "Appointment of officials defeats the purpose of representation and suffrage," he said. Meanwhile, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri had described the postponement proposal as a dangerous precedent. "I agree that we need reforms. I myself am from Mindanao, but can we not do reforms without subverting the people’s will?" he said. SB 2756, filed by Senator Franklin Drilon last month, seeks to synchronize the August 2011 ARMM polls with the midterm elections in 2013, supposedly to enable to government to save P1.8 billion set to be used for the polls. Meanwhile, the ASAM – which claims being composed of Muslims and Christians in at least five provinces working for peace, development and real autonomy of the ARMM – said the movement is now firming up a concrete development agenda centered on peace, unity, livelihood development and substantial reform in the regions governance. — LBG, GMA News