Lawyer asks SC to reverse ruling on polls postponement

An election lawyer on Friday asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its October 18 ruling declaring as constitutional the law postponing this year's polls at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and synchronizing them with the 2013 national elections. Apart from upholding the legality of Republic Act 10153, the SC ruling also authorized President Benigno Aquino III to appoint regional officers in charge who will serve in their posts until 2013. The ARMM elections were originally scheduled last August 8. But in his 45-page motion for reconsideration, lawyer Romulo Macalintal painted a scenario where the President could end up a "despotic and unconstitutional" power to appoint as much as 670,000 local OICs in the Philippines. "If the very slim 8-7 majority decision... is affirmed and implemented, the country will experience such a dreadful situation wherein the President of the Philippines would have enormous power and authority to appoint 672,416 OICs in the event that the elections of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials are likewise postponed or cancelled," he said. According to Macalintal, there are 42,026 villages in the country, each having eight barangay officials and eight SK officials, yielding a total of 672,416 local officials. He expressed fears that those appointed local officials would ultimately become indebted to the appointing power, who is the President. "For sure, the 672,416 OICs that a President could appoint will certainly owe allegiance to him, which could be carried on until the next election and such number could spell a big difference between winning and losing in the polls," the lawyer said. Saying the ruling could set a "dangerous precedent," Macalintal said the president could simply cite as basis the 8-7 SC ruling in justifying future appointments of such local OIC posts in the village and SK elections. Macalintal said such postponements would not be "far-fetched" considering the number of times barangay and SK elections had been cancelled in the past. "In the highest interest of political stability and fairness in times of election and other political exercise, the 8-7 majority that handed down the said decision should reconsider their position on this issue," the lawyer added. Macalintal said the 8-7 ruling has "drastically changed the basic elective and representative structure of the ARMM" because the OICs who will end up taking the posts were not be elected by the people but only by the President. “To talk about representation when there has been no election would be an exercise in delusion," he said. Macalintal insisted that having elected officials who will win in the regional polls with "shortened terms" would not be violative of the Constitution because it" would simply address the necessity of filling the gap before the synchronized elections in 2013" and since the current situation in the ARMM is "extraordinary." In its ruling, the court thumbed down the election of ARMM officials this year who will serve for a little under two years until 2013, insisting that the there is a "proposition that elective local officials cannot be statutorily given terms shorter than three (3) years." In his motion for reconsideration, Macalintal maintained that the court should declare as invalid and unconstitutional RA 10153. He also said the court should direct the Commission on Elections to continue preparing for and hold elections in the ARMM "as soon as possible." Macalintal also said that even if the court ultimately decides in favor of synchronizing the ARMM polls with the 2013 elections, President Aquino should nevertheless be prevented from appointing OICs in the region. As an alternative to appointments, Macalintal suggested that "incumbent officials of the ARMM be allowed to continue performing their functions in hold over capacities." Macalintal's motion for reconsideration was filed with the Supreme Court at around 2 p.m. by a messenger from his law firm. Macalintal's "hold-over" stance on the issue had long been shared by House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, one of the petitioners in the consolidated petitions opposing ARMM election postponement. Lagman said there is no need to appoint OICs because the incumbent ARMM governor, vice governor, and Legislative Assembly members can retain their positions in holdover capacity until the May 2013 elections as provided by the Organic Act of ARMM or Republic Act No. 9054. Macalintal filed his reconsideration request a day after former Tawi-Tawi Gov. Almarim Centi Tillah, Prof. Datu Casan Conding, and Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban also filed a similar motion for reconsideration, asking to reverse the 8-7 SC ruling. Court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez had said the petitioners' motion for reconsideration would be tackled by the justices when they resume full-court session on November 15 after a month-long recess. — LBG, GMA News