The administration proposal to defer the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) from August 2011 to 2013 seems to be well on its way to being formally adopted by the House of Representatives.

As of yesterday, the draft bill had been reported out by the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms for plenary debates. Not one of the bill’s authors, led by Akbayan Rep. Arlene Kaka Bag-ao, is aware that the proposed amendment to the ARMM charter (Republic Act [RA] 6734 as amended by RA 9054) would be meeting serious opposition on the floor. Being an administration-certified bill, administration supporters in the House are expected to approve it resoundingly.

The question, however, is: Would postponing of the ARMM election be the right thing to do?

Apparently, the Aquino administration believes there is an imperative need for such a postponement. Edwin Lacierda, presidential spokesman, has even openly rejected the warning of presidential uncle Jose “Peping” Cojuangco and presidential aunt Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco that postponing the election could trigger some dire political backlash.

Lacierda explained: “The President wants to synchronize ARMM and national elections for the sake of the economy….We disagree with the opinion of Mr. Peping Cojuangco….The President believes the ARMM elections should be postponed….The President is proposing major reforms to address the causes of rebellion and hopelessness in the ARMM.”

Explaining further, Lacierda said the ARMM was a failed substate and “a failed experiment in addressing the aspirations and giving justice to” Muslim Filipinos.

A postponement, Lacierda added, “would also restore the healthy vitality of the democratic process as it eliminates captive voting blocs that keep regional leaders in power and enables them to sell votes to the highest bidder in the national elections.”

But before the House puts the question of synchronizing the ARMM elections with the national polls to a final vote, should they not at least try to feel the pulse of the citizenry in the ARMM? After all, it’s they who would be directly affected by such a vote.

At the height of debates on this question, the House Committee on Muslim Affairs proposed that a referendum of some sort be held to find out exactly what the people of Mindanao think and feel about this issue. These were the same people who, in exasperation, walked out of the committee hearings when it became obvious that approval of the measure was a foregone conclusion.

The names—including Tupay Loong, Pangalian Balindong and Nur Jaafar—may not have a familiar ring at the Batasang Pambansa, but the people of the ARMM hang on to every word they say when they speak out.

They say a postponement would result in either of two things. One is a term extension for the present ARMM officials, which would be in violation of the region’s charter. The alternative is even worse—Malacañang would appoint a caretaker government for the ARMM. This would be the ultimate insult to their long-standing aspirations for self-rule.

Autonomy, incidentally, was granted to Muslim Filipinos by the late President Cory Aquino. Isn’t it the height of irony that what was given by the mother would be taken back by the son under the pretext of saving money? (The Commission on Elections says it has the P1.8 billion needed to fund the ARMM elections.)

Assuming a caretaker government would be installed by the President to take charge until 2013, it would be interesting to know exactly how Muslim Mindanao would feel about such a state of affairs. The proponents of postponement say the problems of poverty and armed rebellion in the region need to be addressed by the caretaker government.

Have you heard of anything sillier? Are these proponents saying that the caretaker government that the President would install in the ARMM would be able to solve within two years the social, political and economic ills that have festered in the region for the past 50 to 60 years?

An examination of the record would show that there have been a total of eight postponements in the elections in the ARMM over the past 21 years.

So if the President wants a truly functioning government in the ARMM, he should be the first to stop this penchant of the national government to postpone the elections as if the sentiments of the people in the region didn’t matter at all.

For once, let our Muslim brothers enjoy the basic right of electing their own leaders within the framework of our Constitution and democratic processes. We’ve trampled on their dignity for too long. I think this is at the very heart of Muslim disenchantment with the rest of the nation.

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