palace: AQUINO MAY BACK AUNT's (TINGTING) bid for vice gov in armm poll
MANILA, JUNE 2, 2011 (TRIBUNE) Malacañang yesterday conceded that President Aquino may end up backing the candidacy of his aunt, Margarita "Tingting" Cojuangco, as vice governor for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) should the Senate finally rule against the deferment of the scheduled elections there.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said the Aquino administration has no other option but to push through with the ARMM elections this August and support at least one among those bets who have already filed their certificates of candidacy (CoCs).
The Palace official recognized that the Commission
on Elections (Comelec) has already closed the deadline of filing CoCs for the aspiring ARMM governors last Wednesday and the administration was not able to field a person of its choice to compete in the said electoral exercise should it push through.
"If we were to pick one to support, we'll be bound by the list of those who filed," Ochoa said but he refused to categorically state that Aquino would be supporting his aunt. "I guess that is part of the discussion as well. I don't want to preempt the President on that," he just said.
The Executive Secretary said they will respect the Senate's decision if it decides to kill the ARMM polls postponement bill as Malacañang has not yet settled the numbers of vote needed to approve the legislation.
He, however, echoed previous statements coming from Aquino's spokesmen, hoping that the senators would see the wisdom of the President's position in calling for the deferment of the ARMM election toward its synchronization with the 2013 nationwide polls.
"I don't think we have any other option but to pursue the elections. We're all so pressed for time here. The election is (supposed to be held) sometime in August. So if it dies in the Senate, the option is for the Comelec to proceed," Ochoa said.
"I think the Comelec with or without this issue on postponement is already preparing for it. Nonetheless so we have nothing to worry over whether it's postponed or not. But what we are saying now is that we really just prefer the postponement," he added.
Cojuangco had filed her CoC to seek the ARMM vice governor's seat since she feels strongly against his nephew's plans to impose institutional changes in the said region by removing the election process which is a democratic act.
Aquino previously mentioned that fielding his aunt as their candidate for the ARMM elections was "illogical" because they are currently working on the premise of postponing the scheduled poll exercises.
"How are we going to work with the postponement (of the ARMM elections) and have a candidate at the same time? I guess that is quite illogical. The goal is to synchronize all the elections and not let (ARMM hold its poll exercises) only the year after," Aquino was earlier quoted as saying.
Malacañang, however, eventually welcomed Cojuangco's candidacy since "anybody is free to put himself up for an electoral post as he sees fit" as told by deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte last weekend. Aytch S. de la Cruz
----------------------------------------------------------
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
----------------------------------------------------------
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------
