Deferment of ARMM polls gains Muslim women support
President Benigno S. Aquino III’s certification of a congressional measure postponing elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) scheduled for Aug. 8 this year, has gained the support of active Muslim women leaders in the region. This after four governors of ARMM released on Friday a signed manifesto supporting the postponement.
In an interview over government-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Saturday, Yasmin Lau (a senatorial aspirant from Lanao del Sur), Fatmawati Salapuddin (of Sulu Bangsamoro Women) and Bainon Carol (president of the United Mindanao Bangsamoro Women) said they believe in the wisdom of the President certifying as urgent the measure postponing ARMM elections to 2013 and, for now, putting in place the basic social, economic and political reforms needed to bring genuine peace and development in the region.
Lau, who hails from Lanao del Sur, said she has closely watched the elections and the formation of ARMM, which has yet to bring meaningful changes in the lives of Filipinos in the ARMM, half of which are women. She noted that she ran for Senator in the past, even if she knew she would not win, “just to give a voice to the Muslim women.
She said reforms to address the defective voters’ list and election-related violence must first be attended to before pushing for the ARMM elections otherwise “we will be having a repeat of the Hello Garci scandal.”
“Let us put aside our personal interests and see what is really happening in ARMM and what changes must be put in place. If we are honest about these realities and are sensitive to the needs of our constituents, we will see that postponing elections is the right way and that we must resolve our problems first,” Lau said.
Salapuddin said she supports the synchronization of the ARMM polls to the 2013 local elections nationwide because “we, the people on the ground, must be heard as we experience the problems and loopholes in the ARMM law that oppositors to the postponement do not experience because they do not live in the ARMM.”
She stressed that the formation of ARMM in 1987 and subsequent attempts to address the neglect of the region have failed because of the haste in having former President Estrada impeached. “Lagi kaming minamadali and we are not given a chance to reform the loopholes in the ARMM system because as Moros we are being discriminated upon as though we are not part of the Philippines,” she lamented.
Salapuddin also said the civil society in the ARMM have been clamoring since August 2009, upon the assumption of President Aquino into the presidency, for the postponement of the ARMM elections “to allow us to look into the problems of the ARMM system more closely and address them,” she said.
According to Salapuddin, the people of Sulu (seat of the Moro National Liberation Front) are united with the government, with whom it is holding peace talks, in postponing and synchronizing the ARMM elections with the local elections in 2013 and that those opposing the postponement are those who are not from Sulu.
They claim to want democracy when “in fact our elections in Sulu are not democratic. They can ask us about our observations in our previous elections, which is not the true image of democracy” she added.
For her part, Carol read a manifesto of civil society groups in the ARMM which urged both chambers of Congress, President Aquino and Secretaries Ging Deles (Peace Process); Jesse Robredo (Interior and Local Government) and Lilia de Lima (Justice) to heed their clamor for the postponement of ARMM elections.
With congress just three days away to another recess, the different organizations of ARMM are asking both chambers to act on their appeal and support the postponement to pave the way for the ARMM to cleanse its house, introduce electoral reforms, advance the peace process and achieve genuine peace and development in the region. (PCOO)
Malacanang cites PHL readiness in dealing with nuclear fallouts
Malacanang reiterated the country’s readiness to handle an emergency as a result of nuclear disaster in Japan should it affect the Philippines.
In a radio interview on Saturday, Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said President Benigno Aquino III has already instructed concerned government agencies to review the country’s disaster readiness plan especially in dealing with nuclear fallouts.
“We have seen the PNRI [Philippine Nuclear Research Institute] doing constant updates to the public on the developments in relation to the nuclear situation in Japan,” she said.
Valte noted out that the PNRI has already presented the existing Philippines National Radiology Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan of the government that contains contingency measures dealing with nuclear disasters.
Asked about the possible changes in the government’s radiation level as Japan and other international bodies adjust their levels, Valte said it is currently being reviewed by the PNRI.
Reviews of the radiation alert and whatever effect the Japan situation may have on the Philippines is constantly being monitored by the PNRI, she stressed adding that the alert level there is localized. “We will have to do our own monitoring and our own assessment for possible effects here in the Philippines,” she said. (PCOO)
Palace happy with airlines offer to transport goods to Japan
Malacañang expressed elation over the offer of flag carrier, Philippine Airlines, to transport for free food items, water and other goods to Japan, which are direly needed by the survivors of the twin tragedy, the magnitude 8.9 earthquake and the tsunami that followed, plus the explosion of nuclear reactors in Fukushima.
In an interview over government-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Saturday, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Aquino administration welcomes the offer of PAL and its rival, Cebu Pacific which earlier gave a similar offer to airlift the goods.
“These will greatly help us extend a helping hand to our needy neighbor and close ally, who has always been there for us and in showing our unity with our neighbors,” Valte said.
She said the government earlier planned to send a C130 flight to Japan with search and rescue (SAR) teams and vital commodities.
Both carriers have existing flights to Japan and need not get landing rights unlike the C130.
As to whether the government will send SAR teams, Valte said “what ever assistance they need most or any help that we can provide, we will give to Japan,” she said.
Valte also indicated that Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said that there are still sufficient funds to repatriate overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East and Japan, should the need arise for them to be repatriated.
Reports said the Departments of Budget and Management and Labor and Employment have spent P700 million of the P13 billion fund to repatriate Filipinos in the country which does not yet include Filipinos in Japan.
“We were assured by Secretary Abad that there are sufficient funds left, if we need to repatriate Filipinos from Libya, the Middle East and others,” Valte added.
Valte stressed that Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario is now in Japan meeting with embassy officials, getting a firsthand assessment of the situation and validating the contingency plans to determine what else needs to be done for Filipinos abroad. (PCOO)
