Bill resetting BARMM polls filed

A SENATOR has filed a bill setting the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) parliamentary elections in March 2026.

Under Senate Bill No. 1587, Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri proposed to set the BARMM election to March 30, with the elected officials’ term of office commencing at noon of April 30.

“It has been more than six years since the BARMM was established, and the Bangsamoro people have yet to exercise their power to elect their own leaders,” he said in a statement.

The bill mandates that the next BARMM parliamentary elections coincide with the 2028 national elections and should be held after three years.

It also orders the Commission on Elections, through the Bangsamoro Electoral Office, to promulgate rules and regulations for the conduct of the elections and enforce and administer it in pursuant to national law, the Bangsamoro Organic Law and the Bangsamoro Electoral Code.

The bill also states that the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will continue as the interim government of BARMM during the extension of the Transition Period, unless the President replaces any interim members or their tenure is shortened by election to another office.

The interim members will serve until their successors have been elected and qualified in an automated election.

“It is very important that the BARMM elections proceed. Let us pray for the speedy enactment of our proposal so that preparations can be completed in March,” the senator said.

The BARMM was initially set to hold its first election in October last year, this was postponed following the Supreme Court’s ruling that declared as unconstitutional two laws passed by the BTA creating and reconstituting parliamentary districts. — Adrian H. Halili