Sen. Bongbong Marcos: Palace should find common ground with ARMM leaders on the issue of election postponement

Senator Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos, Jr. said that the Palace should quickly hold dialogues with the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao leaders to resolve the standoff over the issue of postponing the August ARMM elections and in order to strike a compromise between the diametrically opposed positions of Malacañang and the ARMM leaders.

He said that even more problematic than the ARMM election postponement per se was the plan to appoint officers-in-charge, in lieu of holdover officials. He said that the local leaders have already expressed that they fear the possibility that these OICs would not be recognized by the people, resulting not only in confusion, but might deteriorate into complete political chaos in ARMM.

Senator Bongbong, chaiman of the Senate Committee on Local Government, emphasized the need for the fresh mandate from the people, so that the leadership would not be questioned.

At the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting on 28 February 2011, where the President reiterated his support for the ARMM elections postponement, the President said he would meet with the ARMM leaders to discuss the matter further. Based on the consensus reached in the LEDAC meeting, the remaining issue is the merits of the appointment of OICs instead of authorizing holdover of incumbent ARMM officials.