COTABATO CITY — The governor of Basilan has expressed support for Senate Bill 2862 and House Bill 11034, both aiming to reset to 2026 next year’s first-ever parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The now three-termer Gov. Hadjiman Salliman told reporters via text message on Tuesday, November 12, that resetting the first regional elections in BARMM is good for the Mindanao peace process and shall give voters in its component provinces and cities adequate time to fully understand the intricacies of a parliamentary elections, which is something so new to them.
Salliman said resetting the BARMM elections in 2026 will also provide lawmakers time to amend the regional law that established the parliamentary districts in the region, adversely affected by a recent Supreme Court ruling that removed Sulu from the provinces in the core territory of the autonomous region.
He said it can also provide regional lawmakers enough time to work out the setting up, via an enabling measure by the 80-seat BARMM parliament, of an additional parliamentary district in Lamitan City in Basilan as requested by the local communities.
“The Bangsamoro government and its constituent communities also need time to put in place facets for strong governance in the autonomous region. Holding the regional elections too soon can only cause fragmentation of the local communities,” Salliman said.
Two members of the present interim Bangsamoro parliament, the lawyer Suharto Ambolodto and the civil engineer Baintan Ampatuan, had also separately expressed favor for the postponement of next year’s BARMM elections.
Ampatuan said she is in favor of Senate Bill 2862 and House Bill 11034, filed by Senate President Francis Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, respectively.
Ampatuan had earlier authored a Bangsamoro parliament resolution urging the House of Representatives and the Senate to extend the transition period, from the interim regional lawmaking body to one with a mandate from the region’s electorate, from 2025 to 2028.
Ambolodto said regional lawmakers also need to initiate adjustments first on the configuration of the parliamentary districts in the Bangsamoro region to cushion the adverse effects of the Supreme Court's exclusion of Sulu from the provinces covered by BARMM.
“That Supreme Court ruling has caused the need for adjustments in the electoral districts and extensive planning for the regional elections. The affected areas need to be carefully reconfigured to reflect the new political landscape and logistical planning also needs adjustments as well to accommodate these changes,” Ambolodto said.