05/29/2011 | 06:18 PM
Although Congress has only six session days left to deliberate on the bill seeking to postpone the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) scheduled this August, Malacañang is still hopeful that the proposed measure will be passed.
“We are still hoping that the elections would be postponed, and that the proposed bill by Malacañang will pass," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in an interview on state-owned Radyo ng Bayan on Sunday.
Congress will adjourn its session sine die on June 8. The session will be opened again on July 25, when President Benigno Aquino III delivers his second State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The bill seeking to postpone the ARMM elections has been certified urgent by Malacañang, which wants the elections synchronized with the mid-term polls in 2013.
Meeting with senators
Valte said President Aquino is still open to meeting with the senators to discuss the postponement. So far, the President has met his party mates in the Liberal Party – Sens. Francis Pangilinan, Ralph Recto, Teofisto Guingona III, and Franklin Drilon – and allies Sens. Panfilo Lacson Sr. and Antonio Trillanes IV.
Valte said the preparations of the Commission on Elections for the ARMM polls are understandable since the bill on the postponement is still pending. “As far as Comelec is concerned, tuloy pa iyong election. So they’ve done the necessary preparations and it is better that they are prepared," she said.
Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on local government, has earlier said that his committee will come out with a report on Senate Bill 2756 early this week and that there is still time for floor debates and a vote.
The Senate committee has scheduled a final hearing on May 31, where high-ranking Malacañang officials will be invited as resource persons.