Press Secretary Jesus Dureza on Tuesday confirmed that President Arroyo has certified as urgent the bill calling for the postponement of the August 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
This development came as House Speaker Prospero Nograles said representatives from the region "unanimously" decided to seek the deferment of the elections during a meeting at the Batasan Pambansa.
"In my private meeting now with all the ARMM congressmen, who are most directly affected, their unanimous decision is to move to postpone the elections," Nograles said in a text message sent to ABS-CBN News Tuesday.
Also in attendance at the meeting as resource speakers were Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon, Dureza and House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reform chairman Teodoro Locsin Jr.
In his preliminary statement, Nograles said they wanted to hear from the resource persons how the ARMM elections will affect the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
He said the House leadership believes in coming up with a consensus on whether or not to postpone the polls, and he believes the other lawmakers from Luzon and Visayas will defer to the wisdom of the solons from Mindanao.
Prior to the caucus, Deputy Speaker Simeon Datumanong said that based on an informal poll of Mindanao caucus members, 14 representatives favor the postponement, 14 are not in favor and five abstained.
However, Datumanong said it is still up to the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reform to deliberate and the plenary to vote on the second reading until next week. With reports from RG Cruz and Paul Henson, ABS-CBN News