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Manila: The House of Representatives approved the postponement of local elections in the autonomous region for Filipino Muslims in the southern Philippines.
Seventeen congressmen voted for the postponement of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) from August 11 this year to May 2010, so that it will coincide with the presidential elections. Three opposed the bill, while two abstained from voting, said Congressman Teodoro Locsin, head of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms.
The bill will be deliberated on the floor and elevated to the Senate for concurrence on Monday and Tuesday, said Locsin.
The bill was passed after several hours of deliberation, sources said. Reacting to critics and sceptical lawmakers who said the postponement would not be legislated, House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor said, "A joint resolution between the Senate and the House of Representatives is enough to postpone the ARMM polls."
Pro-administration Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said he would no longer file at the Senate a similar bill.
"No bill, even if certified as urgent, was ever signed into law in less than two weeks," he said.
"We should not let the failure to postpone ARMM polls affect the continuation of the peace talks between the Philippine government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf)," Zubiri said.
Several lawmakers were also against the proposal. Congressman Bernardo Piñol said, "Why should we give in to a rebel group like the Milf. The ARMM polls are not in connection with the government's peace agreement."
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