House leader: Don't defer ARMM polls

MANILA, Philippines - House Deputy Speaker Jesus Crispin Remulla pushed yesterday for the holding of elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in August as scheduled.

Remulla said the reasons being cited for the poll postponement are “flimsy.”

Catholic Church leaders in Mindanao also criticized the proposal to postpone the ARMM elections and replace incumbent regional officials with officers-in-charge.

Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Bagaforo, who heads the local Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, and Fr. Eliseo Mercado Jr., executive director of the Cotabato City-based Institute of Autonomy and Governance, said the plan “would only bring more instability in the region and deny the Moro people of its right to self-determination.”

Despite the possible deferment of the ARMM polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has set the registration of new voters in the region from March 21 to 31.

Remulla took issue with Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo that the postponement would give way to a financial audit of the autonomous region.

“There’s no need to sacrifice the election just to conduct an audit. In the first place, the Commission on Audit is supposed to be auditing the ARMM each year to see how the national government’s share in the region’s operating revenue is used,” he said.

As for Robredo’s statement that the list of voters in the ARMM should first be “purged” to ensure clean and honest elections in the region, Remulla said, “Purging would take time.”

“Why not start with a fresh voters’ list altogether? I think the Comelec would have no problem undertaking a general registration of voters in the region,” he said. – With Helen Flores and Mayen Jaymalin