PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd is intentionally delaying the signing into law of a bill postponing scheduled polls in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to dodge possible legal impediments in its implementation, a House leader said on Monday.
According to House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, he has received a report that the signing of the bill was scheduled for June 30, and with the enroled bill still unsigned by President Aquino, any petition filed before the Supreme Court would be premature in the absence of a covering statute.
“The obvious motive for this dilatory scheme is to deny the Supreme Court enough time to rule on expected petitions challenging the validity of the eventual statute deferring the ARMM polls and authorizing the President to appoint officers-in-charge (OICs),” said Lagman, who vowed to file a petition questioning the constitutionality of postponing the ARMM elections before the High Tribunal.
The enroled bill has been with the Office of the President since June 17.
Lagman said that with time running out, any petition filed before the Supreme Court could be rendered invalid since preparations for the scheduled elections appear to have been halted by the Commission on Elections.
“After getting what he wanted from the Congress, the President is temporizing in signing the bill into law to prevent the Supreme Court from resolving what he does not want, which is the nullification of the deferment of the ARMM elections and his appointment of OICs,” he added.
House Bill 4146 for the ARMM election postponement was approved by Congress on June 7, with the House of Representatives concurring with the version of the Senate that h allows the OICs to seek elective posts in the 2013 polls.
Secretary Ricky Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office said that the signing of the bill is only a matter of time.
“We’re waiting for the right time. We will set a separate time for the ARMM postponement bill signing,” he added.
“We respect the opinion of other people who don’t agree with that but, at the same time, Congress passed the bill so let’s just support the measure and the efforts of the government,” Carandang said.
By Llanesca T. Panti, The Manila Times
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