Groups out to derail ARMM polls via violence

08/06/2008

Violence or civil disorder may erupt in some critical areas in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) during the conduct of elections on Monday, but such trouble will apparently be instigated by some groups that intend to derail the holding of the polls in the region, a senator yesterday alleged.

Opposition Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said he had been told by his “sources” about an alleged plot by still unidentified groups to deliberately stir disorder on the day of the ARMM polls.

He said his sources told him that the plot is aimed at “forcing” the government to declare a failure of elections in the region and, in effect, compel the postponement of the exercise, which calls have been opposed by the Senate.

“This morning I received information from people from the affected areas that there might be an attempt to create disorder on the day of the elections for the purpose of declaring a failure of elections, so that Congress might be given a chance to enact a law that would postpone the conduct of the elections,” Biazon said on the floor during plenary proceedings.

Biazon, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense and security, opted to relay the matter to his colleagues during the afternoon plenary session, for

the upper chamber to approve of his and Sen. Richard Gordon’s proposal to deploy a contingent from the upper chamber as “observers” in the ARMM elections on Monday.

He said the proposal to send Senate poll observers, including himself, is aimed precisely at preventing the said groups from continuing with their plan to sow chaos that day.

“I’m proposing that maybe I will go to the ARMM on Sunday and be there to observe the use of the automation system and probably be able to monitor what could happen by way of observing threats to order on the conduct of the elections,” Biazon said.

“(But) There is one thing that I am also concerned with, the report that somehow there is a possibility that there will be violence that could mar the conduct of the scheduled elections on Monday with the purpose of distracting the elections so that it will be postponed. I think the military and the Philippine National Police need to monitor this report and be prepared,” he added.

Biazon also confirmed reports that such is the scheme being considered by some concerned sectors in Mindanao that are pushing for the postponement of the polls after Congress was not able to approve a Malacañang-backed call for the deferment of the elections.

“That is the report I have received today, from civilians,” he said.

The House of Representatives on Monday night failed to pass a legislation pushing the postponement of the ARMM elections.

The Lower House started its floor deliberations on the consolidated measure after it was unanimously approved by the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms last Friday with a 17-3-2 vote.

Two legislative proposals were filed by Mindanao lawmakers proposing for the deferment of the elections on Monday and for it to instead coincide with the May 2010 national elections.

It was certified by President Arroyo as an urgent bill.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had asked the government to postpone the ARMM polls in order to prevent any delay in the timetable of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) that the Muslim separatist group proposed to be created when it and the government sign a memorandum of agreement (MoA) on the contentious “ancestral domain” issue which the rebels have been demanding in the peace talks.

The BJE is an expanded coverage of the ARMM, to include other areas in the South and in Palawan province.

The government and the MILF were supposed to sign the MoA in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday, but the Supreme Court (SC), acting on a petition, issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) and set a hearing on the matter on Aug. 15.

The ARMM is composed of predominantly Muslim areas, including the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Marawi.

Shariff Kabunsuan ceased to exist as a province last July 16 when the SC declared unconstitutional the law creating it.

The ARMM has some 1.5 million registered voters.

With the move to have Congress defer the ARMM polls having failed, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it is all systems go for the first-ever automated elections in the country.

A top military official also yesterday said the military forces in the island province of Sulu are prepared to carry out their duties relative to the forthcoming elections in the autonomous region.

The residents of Sulu’s 19 towns are set to troop to the polling precincts on Monday to vote for a governor, vice governor and 24 members of the Regional Legislative Assembly as part of the ARMM.

Joint Task Force Comet chief Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban said the military is required by law to perform its responsibility in ensuring the free, orderly, honest, peaceful, and credible conduct of the elections in the region as they have been deputized by the Comelec to do so.

Sabban said the security of the people is at all times the paramount responsibility of the military.

“Hence, the government forces are all out prepared to provide assistance to its police counterparts in the maintenance of peace and order during the election,” he added.

“We are here to reinforce the police, under Comelec authority, to prevent election violence. We don’t expect for any unpleasant incident, but we maintain our readiness to respond to any contingency,” he stressed.

But he said they shall not be directly or indirectly involved in the conduct of the electoral process while they support the Comelec in its efforts to enhance the holding of peace and orderly elections.

He said the memorandum of agreement (MoA) between the Department of National Defense and the Comelec stipulates the limits of military’s involvement in the ARMM elections.

Military camps cannot be used as polling places and soldiers cannot preside over polling counts, Sabban said.

The MoA also bans soldiers from providing security for candidates, he said.

Sabban’s command will set up additional checkpoints in areas where security threats are high.

Angie M. Rosales, with PNA

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