Comelec urged: Prepare for ARMM elections

MANILA, Philippines - Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano yesterday called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to commence preparations for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) polls instead of pestering the Senate about the need to act on the bill postponing the exercise.

Cayetano said it would be better for the Comelec to put its time and energy into preparations for the ARMM polls this August because it has no control over how the Senate will act on the proposed law.

“Anything is still possible but if you will ask me today, the sentiment is not for the postponement,” he said.

“So instead of Comelec rushing us, they should prepare as if the election will push through and we will not accept any excuses in case we do not postpone the election or it does not pass in the Senate,” he added.

Cayetano said the Comelec could start by bidding out the equipment and other paraphernalia that it would need for the ARMM elections even though it does not have the special allotment release order (SARO) from the Department of Budget and Management yet.

Cayetano said Commission on Audit rules allow the Comelec to start the bidding and hold the awarding of the contract until it gets the SARO.

“So it should not be an excuse that DBM has not released the funds, etc. The mere proposal to postpone does not give them the right not to prepare,” he said.

The Senate has received House Bill 4146 calling for the postponement of the ARMM polls this August and synchronizing the exercise with the mid-term elections in 2013.

While President Aquino has certified the bill as urgent, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who chairs the Senate committee on local government, said he will conduct hearings on the bill and warned that this would take time because part of the consultations will be held in the ARMM.

Marcos was not too optimistic about the bill moving as fast as the Palace wants it and given the fact that the filing of certificates of candidacy is approaching soon.

Meanwhile, the Comelec has decided to move the scheduled resumption of voter’s registration nationwide, except for the ARMM, from April 1 to May 3. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Perseus Echeminada