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MINDANAONONS OUTRAGED OVER ARMM BILL’S PASSAGE — NENE

June 8, 2011

Former Senate President Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, Jr. today said that he doesn’t want to think that pork barrel pressure was behind the passage of a bill canceling this year’s elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), but that this is exactly the prevailing sentiment in ARMM and the rest of Mindanao.

“That’s far from my mind, but I cannot say the same for the many Mindanaonons who have expressed to me their outrage, contempt and disappointment over Senate Bill 2756, which is a violation of both the Constitution and the human rights of the people of ARMM,” said Pimentel.

Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos had earlier warned against the dangling of the so-called pork barrel, the millions of pesos of funds allocated to lawmakers each year, to rally support for the ARMM poll postponement bills.

Pimentel said “it’s not over until it’s over as far as the fight” against SB 2756 is concerned, adding that he expects more complaints to be lodged before the Supreme Court against the bill.

He lamented that the bill contravenes Article 21 of the International Declaration of Human Rights which states that the will of the people as expressed in genuine elections shall be the basis of the authority of government.

“And this will, according to the declaration which the Philippines signed after the United Nations adopted it in 1948, must not be trampled upon, thereby recognizing the right to vote as a basic human right.”

“While the Philippines prides itself as a democratic country, we now have a government which in one fell swoop disenfranchised the entire ARMM voting population,” he added.

“This Congress has forever been tarred for a monstrosity of a bill that also imposes on the people of ARMM officers-in-charge (OICs) to be appointed by Malacañang as their leaders until 2013,” said Pimentel.

“Our democracy is under assault and those whom the people expected to champion their right to vote have let them down. The Senate, in particular, even dealt the people of ARMM a double black-eye when it stripped from SB 2756 a provision banning the OICs from running in ARMM in 2013.”

SB 2756 resets and synchronizes the August 8, 2011 ARMM elections with the 2013 national and local elections. The Senate passed SB 2756 on third and final reading last Monday while the House adopted it in its entirety the following day.

The President only needs to sign SB 2756 to complete its passage into law.

Pimentel said that while SB 2756’s signing by President Aquino is a certainty as it is a bill certified urgent by Malacañang, the petitions against it before the SC should prod the Commission on Election to continue preparing for the ARMM elections as scheduled on August 8 this year.

“In the event that the SC finds the measure unconstitutional, the Comelec must not have any excuses not to hold the ARMM election as scheduled. In such a case, the Comelec will be derelict in fulfilling its duties,” he said.

Pimentel said that he was specifically disappointed with two senators who had expressed strong opposition to postponing the elections in ARMM, but who either made a complete about-face or who was conveniently absent during the vote on SB 2756.

“Our Muslim brothers and sisters have adopted as their own this lawmaker who, nonetheless, prioritized a trip outside the country over a golden opportunity to champion the cause of Mindanaonons,” he said.
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