Phl faces 3 elections this year

Before the 19th Congress adjourned for their Christmas break in December last year, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading the bill seeking to postpone the first-ever regular elections for the members of Parliament in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) this coming May 12, 2025, scheduled to be held alongside the mid-term national and local elections.

- MARICHU A. VILLANUEVA

The elections are for the BARMM Parliament and its provinces, including Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Tawi-tawi. After a recent plebiscite, BARMM expanded its administrative scope to include Cotabato City and 63 barangays of North Cotabato.

With usual speed, the House plenary deliberations gave its go signal for House Bill (HB) 11144 that will pave the way for the deferment of the first BARMM parliamentary elections to May 2026 instead. HB 11144 had since then been transmitted to the Senate. If enacted into law, it will also end the term of the present 80-man Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA). To ensure continuity of the BARMM operations, the bill authorizes President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (PBBM) to appoint new interim BTA members who will serve until their successors are elected, whenever this will be.

The speedy approval of this measure came on the heels of the Supreme Court (SC) decision on Sept. 9, 2024 in favor of the petition of Sulu local government to remove their province from the BARMM. Principally authored by Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, Muslim leaders cited the urgency to defer the BARMM Parliament polls.

Another Muslim legislator, Rep. Khalid Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte, underscored the government has been investing heavily in BARMM. This obviously referred to the P70-billion annual block grant allocation automatically appropriated by the national government.