By Tony Chavez
The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved, on the third and final reading, a bill postponing the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) from May 12, next year, to May 11, 2026, with 198 votes in favor and four against.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, the bill’s principal author, said 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.”
It would also give the concerned authorities the chance to resolve emerging issues arising from the final decision of the Supreme Court (SC) excluding the province of Sulu from BARMM, Speaker Romualdez said.
The leader of the 300-plus-strong House said such a decision has implications for the composition of the autonomous region’s parliament.
He added that the postponement was also in response to the clamor of stakeholders.
Under House Bill (HB) No. 11144, the first regular election in BARMM would be held on the second Monday of May 2026 and every three years thereafter.
The postponement law becomes effective when the term of office of the present members of the BARMM Transition Authority (BTA) is deemed to have expired.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will then appoint 80 BTA members who will serve until their successors have been elected and qualified.
The BARMM government will disburse the province of Sulu’s share of the national government’s annual block grant for its programs in 2025.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec), through the Bangsamoro Electoral Office, shall promulgate rules and regulations for the conduct of the elections and enforce and administer them under national laws, the BARMM organic law, and the Bangsamoro Electoral Code.
The proposed postponement law will take effect 15 days after it is published in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
Senate President Francis ” Chiz ” Escudero has introduced a counterpart bill in the Senate that seeks to reset the BARMM elections to May 11, 2026.
If the regional polls are postponed, it would be the second deferment since May 2022, when the first regular elections in the autonomous region were initially scheduled to be held.
Speaker Romualdez’s co-authors of HB No. 11144 are 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.
