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The government will be surrendering a
constitutionally mandated electoral process if the August 11
elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are
postponed supposedly at the behest of the separatist Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF), Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said Wednesday.
“We will be trivializing a
constitutionally mandated process if we will give in to the whims
and caprices of what some people call a terrorist group,” warned
Biazon, the chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense.
Among local insurgent groups,
only the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist band, and the communist New
People’s Army are tagged by the US State Department as foreign
terrorist organizations.
Biazon noted that the MILF broke
away from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), another Muslim
secessionist group, because it had disagreed with the Tripoli
Agreement signed by Manila and the MNLF in 1976. He said it is
possible that the MNLF or any of its two factions would reject any
agreement with the MILF. The government had cited the peace talks
with the MILF as reason for pushing for a postponement of next
month’s scheduled polls in Mindanao’s autonomous region. The
region is composed of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi
provinces.
“Is the postponement a
pre-condition to any agreement that may be entered into between the
government and MILF?” he asked.
Senators Manuel Villar Jr., Juan
Ponce Enrile and Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd asked Malacañang to
provide the legislature with details of the peace talks as related
to the proposed postponement of the regional elections.
During negotiations in Malaysia
last week, the government granted the rebels’ demand for their
“ancestral domain,” or territory that would constitute their
independent Islamic homeland in southern Mindanao. Its recognition
of such domain was seen as a prelude to resumption of talks with the
MILF. The negotiations were suspended last year over the homeland
issue.
Villar and Enrile noted that the
proposal to reset was made so close to the polls and with candidates
already campaigning. Congress will not meet until July 28, just 14
calendar days or six session days before the elections.
“We are tinkering with the law
too much,” Enrile said.
He warned of complications should
there be a postponement and then, he said, there would be no peace
agreement between the MILF and the government.
“Then there would be ARMM
elections forever,” he said.
Roxas said that unless the
government discloses the details of the peace agreement, any
discussion on the election deferment would only be a “futile
exchange of vague statements.”
“What did we get? What did we
give up? And why is the postponement of the ARMM elections related
to these points?” he asked.
Bill for postponement
The regional vote may be
postponed only if a law is passed. Sen. Richard Gordon, Press
Secretary Jesus Dureza and Chairman Jose Melo of the Commission on
Elections (Comelec) separately said so Tuesday.
Dureza also on Wednesday said a
bill will be filed by Rep. Pax Magundadato of the First District of
Sultan Kudarat province, with Sulu Rep. Yusop Jikiri and Tawi-Tawi
Rep. Nur Jaafar as co-authors, proposing the resetting of the
elections. He added that Sen. Miguel Zubiri will also file a
counterpart bill in the Senate. All four politicians are known
allies of the President.
Zubiri, however, said he still
has to decide on whether he would push through with his plan to file
the counterpart bill.
“I will talk with the other
senators on Monday. If I don’t get a consensus with the Senate
leaders on [the bill’s] approval, then it may be a futile exercise
to file the measure,” he added.
Ready or not
Gordon, the chairman of the
Senate Committee on Revision of Codes and Laws, said the Comelec is
well prepared to hold the elections as scheduled.
Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad
agreed, but Marawi City Bishop Edwin de la Peña did not.
The polls must continue, Jumoad
said during an interview over the Church-run Radio Veritas.
De la Peña said during a
separate interview also over Radio Veritas that it would be better
for the government to focus more on the peace process with the MILF
than pushing for the ARMM elections.
Henrietta de Villa, the chairman
of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, an electoral
arm of the Church, said they will wait for the response of lawmakers
to the President’s endorsement to reschedule the regional polls
before making an official stand.
De Villa, a former ambassador to
the Vatican, though, added that the people of Mindanao would be
“disappointed” if the elections were postponed.
Opposition opposed
The United Opposition also warned
that the deferment of the regional polls was part of a government
ploy to amend the 1987 Constitution and eventually allow Mrs. Arroyo
to stay in power even after her term ends in 2010.
“As a Filipino Muslim, I am
personally and deeply offended by the use of the peace process as a
tool and a cover for maintaining this administration’s hold on
power. Filipinos, both Muslim and Christian, will see through this
and will oppose this underhanded scheme to amend the
Constitution,” lawyer Adel Tamano, the spokesman for the United
Opposition, said also on Wednesday.
The deferment of the polls is
“good to the peace process,” Mohagher Iqbal, the chief MILF
peace negotiator, said.
Elections or no, the Philippine
National Police said it will stick to its security plans for the
August 11 vote.
The national police chief,
Director General Avelino Razon Jr., said the 7,200 policemen earlier
deployed in the region will remain there. Deployment of soldiers
will bring the number of security forces to 12,590.
Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, the
regional police director, said ARMM policemen will remain on
“heightened alert.” He added that a “full alert” will be
raised starting August 6 or five days before the elections.
--Efren L. Danao, Anthony Vargas And Maricel V. Cruz
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