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| Chairman Sixto Brillantes, Jr. |
Saying it is doing a delicate balancing act, the Commission on Elections appealed to Congress Monday to decide early on whether to postpone the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao scheduled for Aug. 8.
In a radio interview, Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said they stand either to waste some P2 billion in preparations for an election that will be postponed, or scramble at the last minute for an election that will turn out to proceed as scheduled.
"Siguro mapapakiusapan ni Presidente and I hope mapapakiusapan ang leadership ng House na ma-postpone. Ang hingi lang namin bilisan nang kaunti. Ang Senate is another issue. Tingnan natin kung mabibilisan nila ang pag-postpone," Brillantes told radio dwIZ.
(Perhaps President Benigno Aquino III can persuade the House of Representatives to act early to decide whether to postpone the ARMM polls. We only ask that the process be accelerated. The Senate is another issue. We hope to see the moves to postpone the elections move quicker.)
He cited concerns raised earlier by some lawmakers and officials involved in the peace process that holding the ARMM elections now may negatively affect the negotiations.
Brillantes said peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front may touch on the possible expansion of the ARMM.
A conflict may arise if the negotiations lead to changes in the areas covered by the ARMM, but only officials of provinces covered by the present ARMM are elected if the elections push through as originally scheduled on Aug. 8.
Included in the ARMM are the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and the Islamic City of Marawi.
House bill
At the House of Representatives, Lanao del Sur Rep. Pangalian. Balindong filed House Bill 3542 that seeks to reschedule the ARMM polls to coincide with the May 2013 mid-term elections.
"There is a chance the area covered by the ARMM may expand because of the peace process. Some sectors have thus proposed that we postpone the ARMM elections and synchronize it with the May 2013 elections. In the meantime, the terms of the incumbent ARMM officials can be extended," Brillantes said in Filipino.
Brillantes said he made a courtesy call on Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile last week, where he asked the Senate to decide early whether to postpone the ARMM elections.
"Pinakiusapan ko lang magkaroon ng postponement sa House, pakiusap namin sa Comelec bilisan lang sa Senado para di tayo mabitin sa preparation. Kung gagastos na tayo, gagastos tayo sa preparation. Pag na-postpone at tumagal ang postponement, baka malaki na rin ang nagastos natin sa preparation. Gusto natin maaga ang announcement na ma-postpone na para di gumastos masyado at ma-minimize natin ang gastos," he said.
(After I asked the House leadership to make its decision early, I asked the Senate to do the same so we can prepare well. If we are to spend for the preparations, we should do so wisely. We need the announcement to come early so we will not waste funds)," he said.
He said Enrile did not make any commitment but will monitor developments on the debates on the matter at the House of Representatives.
"Di siya nag-commit sa akin. Pero sabi niya tingnan natin pag may postponement sa House and it will go up the Senate, pakikiusapan niya na bilisan ang decision kasi kailangan namin malaman (He made no commitment but said that if the House decides to postpone the elections and the issue goes up to the Senate he will fast-track the decision)," he said.
P2B for ARMM polls preparation
In the same radio interview, Brillantes said the Comelec has set aside P2 billion for the ARMM elections. For now, he said it has spent nearly P50 million for the Aug. 8 polls.
"We don’t want to pay millions, billions ang gastos dito. We’re preparing P2 billion ang gastos sa ARMM elections (We don’t want to pay billions. We are preparing P2 billion for the ARMM elections)," he said.
He said the bulk of the P2 billion may go to buying some 5,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines worth P135 million, and their software and other “consumables."
Brillantes said they will likely buy the PCOS machines from Smartmatic, saying that when the Comelec leased 82,000 machines for the 2010 elections, it had the right to exercise an option to purchase.
He said the PCOS machines will cost only about 30 percent of the cost. — RSJ, GMA News
In a radio interview, Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said they stand either to waste some P2 billion in preparations for an election that will be postponed, or scramble at the last minute for an election that will turn out to proceed as scheduled.
"Siguro mapapakiusapan ni Presidente and I hope mapapakiusapan ang leadership ng House na ma-postpone. Ang hingi lang namin bilisan nang kaunti. Ang Senate is another issue. Tingnan natin kung mabibilisan nila ang pag-postpone," Brillantes told radio dwIZ.
(Perhaps President Benigno Aquino III can persuade the House of Representatives to act early to decide whether to postpone the ARMM polls. We only ask that the process be accelerated. The Senate is another issue. We hope to see the moves to postpone the elections move quicker.)
He cited concerns raised earlier by some lawmakers and officials involved in the peace process that holding the ARMM elections now may negatively affect the negotiations.
Brillantes said peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front may touch on the possible expansion of the ARMM.
A conflict may arise if the negotiations lead to changes in the areas covered by the ARMM, but only officials of provinces covered by the present ARMM are elected if the elections push through as originally scheduled on Aug. 8.
Included in the ARMM are the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and the Islamic City of Marawi.
House bill
At the House of Representatives, Lanao del Sur Rep. Pangalian. Balindong filed House Bill 3542 that seeks to reschedule the ARMM polls to coincide with the May 2013 mid-term elections.
"There is a chance the area covered by the ARMM may expand because of the peace process. Some sectors have thus proposed that we postpone the ARMM elections and synchronize it with the May 2013 elections. In the meantime, the terms of the incumbent ARMM officials can be extended," Brillantes said in Filipino.
Brillantes said he made a courtesy call on Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile last week, where he asked the Senate to decide early whether to postpone the ARMM elections.
"Pinakiusapan ko lang magkaroon ng postponement sa House, pakiusap namin sa Comelec bilisan lang sa Senado para di tayo mabitin sa preparation. Kung gagastos na tayo, gagastos tayo sa preparation. Pag na-postpone at tumagal ang postponement, baka malaki na rin ang nagastos natin sa preparation. Gusto natin maaga ang announcement na ma-postpone na para di gumastos masyado at ma-minimize natin ang gastos," he said.
(After I asked the House leadership to make its decision early, I asked the Senate to do the same so we can prepare well. If we are to spend for the preparations, we should do so wisely. We need the announcement to come early so we will not waste funds)," he said.
He said Enrile did not make any commitment but will monitor developments on the debates on the matter at the House of Representatives.
"Di siya nag-commit sa akin. Pero sabi niya tingnan natin pag may postponement sa House and it will go up the Senate, pakikiusapan niya na bilisan ang decision kasi kailangan namin malaman (He made no commitment but said that if the House decides to postpone the elections and the issue goes up to the Senate he will fast-track the decision)," he said.
P2B for ARMM polls preparation
In the same radio interview, Brillantes said the Comelec has set aside P2 billion for the ARMM elections. For now, he said it has spent nearly P50 million for the Aug. 8 polls.
"We don’t want to pay millions, billions ang gastos dito. We’re preparing P2 billion ang gastos sa ARMM elections (We don’t want to pay billions. We are preparing P2 billion for the ARMM elections)," he said.
He said the bulk of the P2 billion may go to buying some 5,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines worth P135 million, and their software and other “consumables."
Brillantes said they will likely buy the PCOS machines from Smartmatic, saying that when the Comelec leased 82,000 machines for the 2010 elections, it had the right to exercise an option to purchase.
He said the PCOS machines will cost only about 30 percent of the cost. — RSJ, GMA News
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