The four proposed laws that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III will sign on Tuesday do not include the bill on the postponement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) polls, which he certified as "urgent." Malacañang said the Senate and the House of Representatives have yet to submit to them a copy of the bill on the postponement of the ARMM polls. “We’re waiting for the right time, pag pinadala na sa atin ng Kongreso," Ricky Carandang, head of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, said at a press briefing on Monday. Carandang added they they will give the ARMM postponement bill signing proper attention. “Gusto nating bigyan ng tamang atensyon ang ARMM postponement, so magse-set tayo ng separate time para doon para mapaliwanag nang husto ‘yung kahalagahan ng postponement," he said. Aquino pushed for the postponement of ARMM polls, scheduled on August 15, and suggested instead that it be synchronized with the national and local elections in 2013. The bills that the President will sign on Tuesday include:
An Act extending the implementation of the lifeline rate, amending for the purpose Section 73 of Republic Act 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001; Joint Resolution 1 extending the period of existence of the Joint Congressional Power Commission; An Act allowing the employment of night workers thereby repealing articles 130 and 131 of Presidential Decree 442, as amended, or the Labor Code of the Philippines; and An Act providing for the mandatory basic immunization services for infants and children repealing for the purpose PD 996. Captive voting blocks Aquino wanted to synchronize the ARMM polls to revitalize the democratic process once the captive voting blocks have been eliminated. Earlier, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the voting blocks, also known as command votes, keep regional leaders in power and enable them to sell the votes to the highest bidder in national elections. Reiterating the need for reforms as the main reason for Aquino’s proposal to postpone the ARMM elections, Lacierda stated: “[Reforms] can only happen when [the ARMM election] is postponed and we appoint decent officials to have a clean slate… This is not merely the decision of the inner workings of the Cabinet, this is the personal preference of the President." Lacierda earlier said the government would be able to save money with the synchronization of the national, local, and ARMM elections in 2013. - VVP, GMA News 
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