AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Postponing 2022 polls 'option of last resort,' says Mikey Arroyo

House Deputy Majority Leader Mikey Arroyo on Friday denied pushing for the postponement of the 2022 elections, saying that he merely wants to know if the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is prepared for the worst-case scenario given the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am not telling the Comelec to do it. I was just telling them to consider it kung grabe ang pandemya, na huwag naman po sana umabot roon, nakakatakot pa rin lumabas,” Arroyo told Dobol B sa News TV in an interview.

The son of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was referring to the exchange he had with Comelec officials during a budget hearing at the House of Representatives on Thursday.

“Kung saka-sakali lang po sa May 2022 na hindi pa rin natin ma-kontrol [ang pandemic], wala pang vaccine... hindi ba dapat isipin man lang na i-postpone ang elections? Di ko sinabi na i-postpone agad. It was an option of last resort," Arroyo added.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. was one of the first to call out Arroyo's on his statement, saying that postponing elections is treason and against democracy.

Former Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal also said that postponing 2022 polls will violate the election dates set by the 1987 Constitution.

Arroyo, however, assured the public that he is not after violating any law or extending the term of incumbent officials.

“Wala pong ganoon. Hindi ko po nakausap si Speaker [Alan Cayetano] or ang Executive,” Arroyo said.

“It was my right to express my ideas,” he added.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, in a separate Dobol B sa News TV interview, said the COVID-19 pandemic is being taken into consideration in their preparations for the next national elections.

"Actually, ang pinaghahandan ng Comelec ay yung 2022 na merong pandemya,"  Jimenez said. "As far as the Comelec is concerned, given na na by 2022 ay may pandemya pa rin."

"Yan ang pinaka-basis ng aming paghahanda, na kinakailangan nating mag-ingat kasi sa 2022, sa panahon ng halalan, merong pandemya at in fact ini-expect natin na wala pa diyang effective distribution ng vaccine," he  added. —KBK, GMA News