Untimely

We have less than four months left before the legally prescribed date for elections in the ARMM. There is hardly any time left to prepare for it and surely no time left to postpone it.

We are in this tenuous situation because, out of the blue, the administration decided elections in the autonomous region should be postponed to coincide with the 2013 electoral cycle. Not only should the elections be postponed, the administration wanted to be able to appoint officers-in-charge for all the offices of the autonomous regional government in the interim.

In order to achieve those political objectives, the administration needs to get a law passed — even if doing so invites serious constitutional issues. The President certified as urgent that required piece of legislation.

The administration-controlled House of Representatives dutifully passed their version of the bill immediately before going into long recess. Little heed was paid the protests of Muslim congressmen. Presumably, those who supported the measure received their due pat on the back.

Unfortunately for the administration, a similar bill must pass the Senate. The Upper Chamber’s version must be reconciled with the one that passed in the House before anything becomes law.

The congressmen passed the postponement bill and dumped it on the Senate’s lap as they rushed off to vacation. Specifically, the matter falls on the lap of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chair of the Senate Local Government Committee.

To his credit, Sen. Marcos continued work on the bill, conducting hearings while most of his colleagues in both chambers roll in the sand. Attending those hearings were officials of the Comelec, representatives of Namfrel, and spokesmen for both sides of the debate.

 Sen. Marcos, it appears, is bent on studying the matter thoroughly and understanding all its ramifications. He does not seem ready to affix his signature and the imprimatur of his committee on a measure that may eventually be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. He is by no means impressed by the administration juggernaut that wants the postponement of elections signed and sealed immediately.

Former senator Aquilino Pimentel, principal author of the Local Government Code, opposes the postponement of elections in the autonomous region. He has participated in the hearings extensively and, the other day, pronounced there was no more material time left to pass Senate Bill 2756. Therefore, the prospects for postponing elections in the ARMM are getting dimmer by the day.

That might be just as well. All the arguments made in favor of postponement fall to the wayside one by one, day by day.

The Comelec completed registration of new voters and is well into the process of cleaning up the voters’ lists. Interior Secretary mentioned the audit of the ARMM as a reason for postponing the polls. Apparently, the audit is done and Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan is now going to be charged with plunder.

At any rate, the audit was a weak argument. It could be conducted on a continuing basis even if elections are held as scheduled.

Most important, no one in the affected constituency appears to want OICs to be named from Imperial Manila to govern a region that fought hard and long to win autonomy.

Leverage

Residents of the West Tower condominium, or at least their lawyers, seem to be fixated on the possibility of squeezing a lot of cash out of FPIC, the company that owns the pipeline that leaked oil in the Bangkal, Makati area.

The West Tower Homeowners Association, or at least the lawyers speaking on their behalf, filed several suits against FPIC while standing against all efforts at environmental remediation. While the pipeline remains idled, the residents are demanding something like P2.2 billion in damages and additional hundreds of millions to be deposited in an escrow fund supposedly to cover medical expenses of all residents of Bangkal who might fall ill due to the aftereffects of the leak. This is being demanded regardless of sound medical opinion saying the concentration of volatile compounds in the area is way below tolerable levels and poses no clear health risks.

FPIC volunteered to install water cleaning facilities so that whatever seeped into West Tower’s badly designed basement will not be drained raw onto the sewers. The owner of the pipeline likewise offered to install an air treatment device to collect whatever fumes there may be in that controversial basement.

Bensan Industries, the company contracted by FPIC to install the remediation facilities, complains that their personnel were barred from entering the condominium to install their technology. Bensan Industries is owned by multi-awarded environmental scientist Dr. Benjamin Santos.

Through legal maneuvers by residents claiming compensation and foot-dragging by bureaucrats, the situation at West Tower is now at a standstill. Fuel for the metropolitan area is being hauled overland from Batangas, a process that is not only costly for consumers but also dangerous for the environment. Remediation is blocked. The pipeline could not be tested for integrity.

The standstill imposed by the claimants is not healthy. Unless the effects of the pipeline leak are remediated, there will be hazards present for the community. Unless the pipeline is put back in operation, the additional fuel costs will be borne by consumers.

The standstill persists because, it seems, there are those — including grandstanding politicians — who seek to realize a windfall from the otherwise minor tragedy of a leak.