A view from the top of Bacolod Grande Grand Mosque in Lanao del Sur on Friday, July 28, 2017. Froilan Gallardo, ABS-CBN News/FileMANILA -- A measure seeking to defer for one year the first general elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) hurdled the committee level at the House of Representatives on Wednesday. 

The House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms approved House Bill 11034, which proposes to reset the May 12, 2025 elections to May 11, 2026. 

It also approved the consolidation of the said bill, authored by House Speaker Martin Romualdez and nine other congressmen, with two other measures. 

READ: Marcos Jr. studying calls to suspend 2025 BARMM elections

"In view of recent political and legal developments, this bill seeks additional time to allow the resolution of various emerging legal issues, promoting broader participation from political parties and enhancing the electorate's understanding of new electoral processes," the authors of HB 11034 said in the bill's explanatory note.

Last September, a Supreme Court decision excluded the province of Sulu from the BARMM, which has implications to the composition of the BARMM parliament and the upcoming parliamentary polls.

READ: Bangsamoro attorney general acknowledges SC ruling excluding Sulu from BARMM

Under the bill, once it is enacted, the President shall appoint the 80 new interim members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, who shall serve until their successors shall have been elected and qualified. The term of office of the present BTA members shall be deemed expired.

At the upper chamber of Congress, Senate President Francis Escudero filed a counterpart bill, to allow the region to reconfigure its jurisdictions and reallocate the seats of its 80-member parliament following the High Court's ruling cutting off Sulu from the BARMM.

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