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P2.5 billion needed to reset BARMM polls – Comelec

MANILA, Philippines —  Holding parliamentary elections for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) separately from the midterm polls in May will require P2.5 billion in additional funding, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia said yesterday.

“And because it’s separate elections, it will be like special elections requiring separate logistics, teachers and ballots,” Garcia said. “We’ll need P2.5 billion to launch an election for parliament for the Bangsamoro.”

The first-ever BARMM parliamentary election was supposed to be held simultaneously with the 2025 midterm elections in May.

Garcia said that a resetting of the BARMM polls to October is almost certain, with President Marcos having already certified as urgent a proposed measure postponing the exercise.

Garcia said only after the measure has been enacted will the Comelec decide if there will be a need for another filing of candidacy for the BARMM polls.

Furthermore, he said that if the polls were reset, the Bangsamoro Parliament has to come out with a law to distribute the seven Sulu parliamentary seats to other provinces. The Supreme Court previously ruled that Sulu is not part of BARMM.

Senators, meanwhile, have expressed hope the House of Representatives would adopt their version of the bill postponing BARMM elections to Oct. 13. The House version, approved last December, sets a one-year suspension of the polls.

“The executive which recommended it said a five month-postponement should be enough. Malacañang’s certification – although the Senate was not able to use it – is a message that this is an urgent measure that we hope to pass before the break,” Sen. JV Ejercito said at the Kapihan sa Senado forum yesterday.

“We hope to ratify a reconciled version before the break. We can meet halfway and strike a compromise. But if the House will accede, they can just adopt the Senate version on the election date,” Ejercito said.

Senate President Francis Escudero is also trying to convince the House to adopt the Senate version of the measure.

“I would hope so given that we carried the preferred period of the executive branch, which, in turn, was the product of much debate and

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