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Palace to Bongbong: Don't archive ARMM poll postponement bill


Malacañang on Wednesday asked Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to submit to the plenary the committee report on the proposed postponement of the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) so that the entire Senate can vote on it. “We would urge Sen. Bongbong Marcos [to] bring out the committee report and let it be voted. It deserves an up or down vote. It deserves to be voted, whether for or against," said presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda at a press briefing. Marcos, chairman of the Senate committee on local government, opposes the postponement of the ARMM elections. The bill has been certified as urgent by President Benigno Aquino III, former chairman of committee on local government during his stint in the Senate. Lacierda said if Marcos is confident that the bill will be voted down, he should bring out the committee report and report it on the floor. “Let the entire Senate body decide on the bill itself and not unilaterally allow the bill to be archived—let the senators debate on it." He further said that the bill should not be “killed" because there are other stakeholders who want the ARMM elections to be rescheduled. “There are stakeholders here, not only of one senator but the entire ARMM population, that it deserves a vote in the Senate." Lacierda said it will be a disservice to the stakeholders in ARMM to let the bill be archived without being heard at the plenary. Marcos had earlier said that his committee will conduct one more hearing on the proposal, but its date has yet to be announced. The House of Representatives had earlier passed its version of the bill. The son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos had earlier said that he is not inclined to support the postponement of the ARMM elections. He found allies in Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri and Sen. Francis Escudero, who said that poll postponement is unconstitutional. The elder Marcos was ousted from power in 1986 via the historic EDSA People Power Revolution. He was replaced by Aquino’s mother, the late President Corazon Aqiuno. — KBK, GMA News

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