Time not on side of ARMM poll postponement

MANILA, Philippines - With less than a month to go, time is not on the side of a move to postpone the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Sen. Richard Gordon said Tuesday evening.

Gordon, who chairs the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of laws, said two weeks may not be enough for both houses of Congress to hammer out a law to postpone the polls.

“Kung babaguhin ang batas kailangan pumayag ang Lower House at Senado
(pero) mukhang mahihirapan na, Aug. 11 na (You need a law to postpone it. Both Houses have to agree. The chances of crafting such a law between the opening of Congress on July 28 and the ARMM elections on Aug. 11 are dim)," he said in an interview on dzRH radio.

He said not even President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo can have the power to order the Commission on Elections to postpone the polls as the Comelec is an independent body.

Earlier, Mrs Arroyo favored the postponement of the Aug. 11 polls in favor of the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"Hindi pwedeng sasabi-sabi lang ng pangulo, postpone na ang elections.
Ang Comelec ay constitutional body, ibig sabihin independent yan (The president cannot order the polls postponed on mere say-so. The Comelec is a constitutional body and is independent of the president)," he said. - GMANews.TV

Time not on side of ARMM poll postponement - Gordon
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/108629/Time-not-on-side-of-ARMM-poll-postponement---Gordon
07/23/2008 | 02:03 AM