By Liza Soriano
MANILA — Senate President Chiz Escudero has filed a bill seeking to defer the parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
This proposal follows a recent Supreme Court ruling that excludes Sulu from the regional group.
BARMM’s first parliamentary election is scheduled for 2025; however, Escudero is advocating for a new date of May 11, 2026.
This extension would allow the region to reconfigure its jurisdictions and reallocate the seats of its 80-member parliament in light of the High Court’s decision.
“It’s important to do this to notify our constituents in BARMM regarding Congress’s plan to postpone the elections, primarily due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Sulu,” Escudero stated.
Furthermore, the Senate chief emphasized in his proposed bill that the Supreme Court’s decision “provides a compelling reason to postpone the Bangsamoro regular elections, given its legal implications regarding Sulu’s exclusion from the autonomous region.”
Escudero is optimistic that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will certify his proposal—Senate Bill No. 2862—as urgent, considering the importance of the measure and the tight schedule facing both the Senate and the House of Representatives for the remainder of the 19th Congress.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has begun accepting certificates of candidacy for the 2025 BARMM parliamentary elections.
Comelec will continue this process until November 9, while awaiting Congress’s decision on the possible postponement of the polls.
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