It’s final: the first-ever parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will push through on May 12, 2025, according to the Supreme Court.
Senate President Francis Escudero had earlier filed a bill seeking to postpone the BARMM elections based on the request of Malacañang that cited the recent Supreme Court decision on the exclusion of Sulu from BARMM.
Another reason for the Escudero bill is the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority Parliament’s request for Congress to pass a law forming a new province to be known as Kutawato which will be composed of eight newly-formed municipalities. The creation of a new province needs the creation of legislative districts. Should Congress fail to pass laws to create such districts, it may result in the disenfranchisement of voters in the eight new municipalities.
“While the reasons behind the first postponement brought about by the passage of RA No. 11593 on 29 October 2021 may be different—the COVID-19 pandemic, and the absence of a Bangsamoro Electoral Code—recent developments speak nonetheless of institutional and statutory issues that warrant another postponement,” Escudero said.
It is not only the Senate that wanted the BARMM parliamentary polls postponed. The Office of the Special Assistant to the President (OSAP) backed the Senate bill. The OSAP argued that there is a need to study all the legal implications arising from the Supreme Court decision on Sulu and revisit the current legal infrastructure to ensure proportional and equitable representation within the BARMM and prevent disenfranchisement of its voters.
And then there’s Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr., who believes that “resetting the elections gives us ample time to address concerns that come with Sulu’s exclusion from BARMM and ensure the Bangsamoro government’s resilience and readiness to lead.” He pointed out that a postponement would allow the reassignment of employees to ensure the continuity of service delivery in Sulu, the continued implementation of ongoing programs in the province and facilitate the transfer of ownership of Bangsamoro government-owned assets and properties in Sulu to appropriate entities.
But the leadership of the former rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation (MILF) wants the elections to proceed next year.
“The MILF central committee hereby earnestly appeals for the 2025 parliamentary elections in the BARMM to proceed as scheduled, consistent with the call of His Excellency, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in numerous speeches referring to the elections in the region,” it said.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia had indicated that the poll body would “proceed with all the activities in relation to election preparation for the BARMM” as the Senate bill filed by Escudero is not yet a law.
Now that the Supreme Court has already spoken, it’s all systems go for the May 2025 BARMM polls to take place, and allow Muslim Mindanao to take another significant step toward self-rule.
