The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on third and final reading House Bill No. 11144, which reschedules the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) from May 12, 2025 to May 11, 2026.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, the principal author of the bill, explained that the rescheduling would provide ample time for political parties and voters to better understand the new electoral processes.
“(The one year postponement) would allow for more time for the promotion of broader participation from political parties and the electorate, and enhance their understanding of new electoral processes,” he said.
Romualdez also noted that the delay would give relevant authorities an opportunity to address emerging issues, particularly the Supreme Court’s final decision to exclude the province of Sulu from BARMM.
Under the bill, the BARMM election will take place on the second Monday of May 2026, and subsequently every three years.
Once the postponement law takes effect, the terms of current members of the BARMM Transition Authority (BTA) will expire. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will then appoint 80 new BTA members, who will serve until their successors are elected and qualified.
The BARMM government will allocate Sulu’s share from the national government’s annual block grant for its programs in 2025.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec), through the Bangsamoro Electoral Office, will issue rules and regulations for conducting the elections and will enforce them in accordance with national laws, the BARMM Organic Law, and the Bangsamoro Electoral Code.
The proposed postponement law will take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.
A counterpart bill to move the BARMM elections to May 11, 2026, has also been filed in the Senate by Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
If the regional elections are postponed, this will mark the second delay since May 2022, when the first regular elections in the autonomous region were initially set to occur.
Other authors of the bill include Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr., Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander A. Marcos, Deputy Speaker Yasser Alonto Balindong, Reps. Yedda K. Romualdez and Jude Acidre of Tingog Party-list, and Representatives Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur, Bai Dimple Mastura of Maguindanao del Norte, Munir Arbison Jr. of Sulu, Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo and Sittie Aminah Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte, Samier Tan of Sulu, Shame Tan-Tambut of Kusug Tausug Party-list, Maximo Dalog of Mountain Province, Juliet Marie de Leon Ferrer of Negros Occidental, and Maria Victoria Co-Pilar of Quezon City.