Voting 8-7, the
Supreme Court ruled on October 18 that the law synchronizing the
elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with
regular elections, is constitutional.
Republic Act 10153, passed by
Congress and signed into law by President Aquino in June, allows the
President to appoint officers-in-charge (OICs) for the offices of
the ARMM regional governor, vice-governor, and members of the
regional legislative assembly, who "shall perform the functions
pertaining to the said offices until the officials duly elected in
the May 2013 elections shall have qualified and assumed office."
The petitioners were given 15 days
though to answer the ruling before OICs could be appointed. Prior to
the en banc ruling, the Supreme Court issued last month a temporary
restraining order in response to petitions questioning the
constitutionality of RA 10153, putting a temporary halt to the
screening process for OICs. Under the law, the President will
appoint 26 ARMM OICs, one each for regional
governor and vice governor, and 24
members of the regional legislative assembly.
In a statement, the President
affirmed his purpose for seeking to synchronize the ARMM polls,
originally scheduled for this month, with the 2013 general
elections, which is to "break the cycle of impunity, corruption and
poverty in the ARMM....The administration supported the bill to
synchronize the ARMM elections with national elections in an effort
to end the vicious cycle of abnormal elections where the mandate of
the people is subverted by means of the command vote wielded by
local political families...Command voting has contributed to the
cycle of impunity, the results of which have been demonstrated in
the region being bloodied by the reign of impunity, as witnessed by
the
Maguindanao Massacre."
Commission on Elections (Comelec)
Chairman Sixto Brillantes, Jr. also welcomed the decision, saying
that because of the SC resolution, they will just use the Php 1.5
billion budget for the ARMM elections for their preparations for the
2013 synchronized elections.
While the decision was welcomed by
the Palace as well as pro-administration lawmakers, some have
expressed reservations and disappointment, including party-list
representative Raymond Palatino, who believes that "the law violates
the autonomy of the ARMM, and it's a dangerous re-imposition of
imperial Manila rule over ARMM."
(Various news sources) |
