MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has certified as urgent the passage of a Senate bill seeking to defer the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to October, to allow the BARMM government to “realign” its structure, Malacañang said yesterday.
Senate Bill 2942, which seeks to reschedule the BARMM polls from May 12 to Oct. 13 this year, was approved on second reading on Tuesday.
The House of Representatives has approved on final reading its version of the measure, which aims to postpone the elections to May 11, 2026. The Senate version was the one certified by Marcos as urgent, according to the Office of the Executive Secretary.
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Marcos has written Senate President Francis Escudero informing him about the certification.
A copy of the letter was also transmitted to Speaker Martin Romualdez and Presidential Legislative Liaison Office chief Mark Llandro Mendoza.
“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.
Escudero said senators are eyeing to pass the bill before the Senate goes on a break next week.
BARMM poll ballot printing suspended
After Marcos certified as urgent the BARMM poll postponement bill, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) suspended the printing of ballots for the first parliamentary elections in the region.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said only ballots for the May 12 national and local elections would be printed.
“We might end up reopening the filing of certificates of candidacy in the region in the event of a redistricting as a result of the reapportionment of parliamentary seats originally assigned to Sulu,” Garcia said.
With the likely postponement of the BARMM polls, Garcia said the Comelec would focus efforts on the preparations for the national and local elections.
“We hope it will be more definite soon, if the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections will be reset or not, so we can fully focus on the national and local elections,” Garcia said.
He said the Comelec had been hopeful that the BARMM parliamentay elections would push through so they continued preparing for the polls.
The Comelec earlier said the government would save funds if the BARMM parliamentary polls would be held simultaneously with the national and local elections.
Gun ban violators now 408
Meanwhile, the number of people arrested for violating the nationwide gun ban has increased to 408, the Philippine National Police reported yesterday.
Of the figure, 389 are civilians, including three foreigners, who were apprehended either at checkpoints or police operations.
Ten are security guards and the rest are members of the military, police and other law enforcement agencies.
A government official from the Bangsamoro region was also among those apprehended for carrying a gun. – Mayen Jaymalin, Emmanuel Tupas