Press Release
May 12, 2011

Sen. Bongbong on ARMM polls: Committee needs proper bases
for any conclusions in the eventual report

The Senate Committee on Local Government will hold another public hearing in Marawi City next week before submitting its committee report on the Malacanang-backed proposal to postpone the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) polls originally scheduled for August this year to 2013.

Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, committee chairman, emphasized that there is a need to conduct further hearings as to provide the bases for any conclusions in the eventual committee report.

"The issue of the Autonomous Region on Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections has once more come to the fore. Many officials in the administration have made very strong representations to me to continue to treat as urgent the measure for the postponement of the ARMM elections," Marcos said.

Marcos emphasized that It is his intention to issue the committee report as soon as possible and had hoped to have done it sometime next week.

"We will try to do our best to finish the committee report" he said.

The senator expressed confidence that after that hearing in Marawi his committee will have the proper bases for a complete committee report which he will bring to the floor soon after the hearing.

Marcos called for initial hearing last April 7 to establish the "true sentiments" of the people in the ARMM before the vote in the Senate on the postponement of the elections gets underway.

Marcos earlier said that the committee still has to consider the legal and constitutional issues of deferring elections in August as scheduled.

"The legal and constitutional merits have to be properly studied," the Senator pointed out.

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