Palace asked to comment on petitions vs ARMM poll postponement

The Supreme Court has asked Malacañang to comment on the petitions blocking the postponement of the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) scheduled in August. “We’re giving the respondents a non-extendible period of 10 days to comment," said SC spokesperson and court administrator Jose Midas Marquez at press conference on Wednesday. He said the high court did not issue a temporary restraining order preventing the Palace to enforce Republic Act 10153 or the law postponing the ARMM polls. He said the court wants the respondents, led by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., to comment on the petitions first. Marquez likewise said the three separate petitions to nullify RA 10153 filed by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, lawyer Romulo Macalintal, and the group led by former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. have already been consolidated in a single petition. The petitioners asked the SC to declare RA 10153 as unconstitutional, since it supposedly deprives the region of the autonomy accorded by the Constitution. President Benigno Aquino III signed last week RA 10153, the bill moving the ARMM elections to May 2013, saying the postponement will facilitate reforms in the region. — Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK, GMA News