MALACAÑANG said on Thursday it is prepared to declare holdover positions for incumbent officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) if the Supreme Court fails to rule on the constitutionality of the law synchronizing the ARMM elections with the national elections by September 30.

“There will be a holdover until the Supreme Court decides on the constitutionality of the ARMM postponement law,” Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a news briefing.

He explained that if the Court does not decide by Friday, September 30, “since we cannot appoint officers in charge, we are bound to respect the holdovers in the meantime.”

The term of incumbent ARMM officials ends on September 30.

The law synchronizing the ARMM polls with the national elections starting 2013 would have paved the way for the appointment of officers in charge for elective positions in the ARMM.

Acting on several petitions seeking to declare the law unconstitutional, the SC issued a temporary restraining order that stopped President Aquino from appointing OICs in the ARMM.

Under that law, the ARMM elections will be synchronized with the elections in 2013 and the President was given authority to appoint OICs for elective positions in the autonomous region.