Marcos seeks speedy passage of bill postponing BARMM elections | ABS-CBN

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Marcos seeks speedy passage of bill postponing BARMM elections

Marcos seeks speedy passage of bill postponing BARMM elections

ABS-CBN News

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Updated Jan 29, 2025 05:09 PM PHT

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Residents in Sultan Kudarat look for their names from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) list of voters for the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite at the Simuay Junction Crossing Elementary School,  January 21, 2019. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File 


MANILA (UPDATED) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is seeking the speedy passage of a bill that aims to defer the first general elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the Palace said Wednesday.

According to the Presidential Communications Office, the President has written to Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero certifying Senate Bill No. 2942 or an "An Act Resetting the First Regular Elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for immediate enactment."

“Given recent legal developments surrounding the issue, the President believes that the move would address the urgent need of the Bangsamoro transitional government to realign its governance structure. It will also ensure that the region's aspirations for unity, inclusivity, and genuine autonomy are achieved,” the PCO said in a statement.

A copy of the letter was also transmitted to Speaker Martin Romualdez and Secretary Mark Leandro Mendoza, President and adviser on legislative affairs and head of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office, the PCO said.

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Bills certified as urgent are exempt from a rule requiring lawmakers to study the measure for at least 3 days before voting on it.

SENATE OKS BARMM POLL POSTPONEMENT ON SECOND READING

The Senate has approved on second reading Senate Bill 2942, which resets the BARMM polls to October this year.

Senate President Francis Escudero said Tuesday that he expects approval on third and final reading next week.

"Pero kung kinakailangan gagamitin namin ung certification — at nakausap ko na rin si Senate Minority Leader [Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III], kinikilala niya naman na urgent talaga ito dahil kailangang pagpasyahan, one way or the other, kung ipo-postpone nga ba ung BARMM elections o hindi bago kami mag-adjourn," he said.

(But if we need to use the certification — and I have talked to Senate Minority Leader Pimentel and he recognizes that this is urgent and that we have to decide whether or not to postpone the BARMM elections before we adjourn)

Pimentel voted against postponement and previously said Republic Act 11054, or the Bangsamoro Organic Law, requires that they be held. 

Escudero said postponing the BARMM elections for five months would mean improved security for the polls and would allow the Bangsamoro Transition Authority — the regions' interim government prior to elections — to reallocate seats in parliament previously assigned to Sulu province, which the Supreme Court has ruled is not part of BARMM.

Meanwhile, a bill that seeks to move the BARMM elections to May 11, 2026 hurdled the House of Representatives last December. 

— With reports from Pia Gutierrez and RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News 

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