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Senate approves BARMM election reset

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate approved on third and final reading yesterday a bill postponing the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) by five months, moving it to October.

With 18 affirmative votes, one negative vote and zero abstention, Senate President Francis Escudero said senators approved on third and final reading Senate Bill 2942, which amends Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

In his manifestation, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said the measure would be “the last time that we will allow an extension of the BARMM parliamentarians.”

“That’s why I’m sad that it is only (for) five months… I’m still hoping that we can still extend it a bit,” Zubiri said.

The bicameral conference will reconcile the Senate and House versions of the measure.

“We in Mindanao, we don’t want any more trouble, we don’t want any more war, we don’t want any more fighting. I get emotional because we’re all affected by it. Whether we’re from Cagayan de Oro… any fighting that happens in our other regions will affect the development of the fastest growing region of the Philippines, Northern Mindanao, where I’m from,” he said.

It is unclear how a longer postponement of the polls will improve the peace and order situation. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front had said it is ready for the polls in May.

With the recent Supreme Court ruling, which separated Sulu from the BARMM, Zubiri cited the need to reconfigure the composition of the Bangsamoro Parliament to address the parliamentary seats that would have belonged to Sulu.

“We must also consider the legislative representation of the Special Geographic Area that we are trying to establish as a new province in the Bangsamoro to make sure that they are not disenfranchised when it comes to the elections,” he said.

In September last year, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of RA 11054, which created the BARMM. However, it ruled that Sulu is not part of BARMM due to the province’s rejection of the law’s ratification.

The law, enacted in 2018, required ratification by plebiscite, with the majority of the former ARMM areas voting in favor. While most areas ratified the law in

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