Cheyenne Suarez

Escudero hopes House will adopt BARMM polls postponement bill Senate is poised to pass

Article (news)

RG Cruz

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1738211766843Bangsamoro.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="The Bangsamoro government center in Cotabato City is lit up in green on January 22, 2022 to mark the region&#x27;s third anniversary. BARMM Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Asnin Pendatun, handout, file."/>The Bangsamoro government center in Cotabato City is lit up in green on January 22, 2022 to mark the region&#x27;s third anniversary. BARMM Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Asnin Pendatun, handout, file. </div>MANILA — Senate President Francis Escudero hopes the House of Representatives will adopt the Senate&#x27;s version of the bill postponing the first regular regional elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which the chamber is seen to approve on final reading next week.Senate Bill No. 2942 seeks to push back the elections in the special region to October 13, 2025 while a counterpart bill that the House passed last December proposes postponing them to May 2026.Escudero told reporters in a text message that the Senate &quot;carried the preferred period of the Executive Branch which, in turn, was the product of much debate and discussion principally among our security and election officials.&quot;<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/1/29/marcos-seeks-speedy-passage-of-bill-postponing-barmm-elections-1128">Marcos seeks speedy passage of bill postponing BARMM elections</a></div>The Senate approved the bill on second reading on Tuesday night, making it ripe for final approval on Monday. That would leave two days to convene a bicameral conference committee to harmonize it with the House version.If the House adopts the Senate version, there would be no need for a bicameral panel and the bill can go straight to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr for signature.Congress adjourns for the election campaign next Wednesday and it will resume session in June.During the plenary session Tuesday, Sen. JV Ejercito — chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government — amended the bill to reschedule the bill from May 2025 to October 13, 2025 instead of the original proposed date of August 11.Under Ejercito&#x27;s amendment, the term of office for officials elected in the BARMM polls would begin on October 30.&quot;The next election shall be held and synchronized with the 2028 national elections and every three year thereafter,&quot; he also said.President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has certified the bill to postpone the BARMM elections — originally set for 2022 but pushed back to this year — as urgent, with the Palace saying postponement &quot;would address the urgent need of the Bangsamoro transitional government to realign its governance structure.&quot;<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/regions/2024/10/1/official-assures-barmm-elections-to-be-inclusive-1651">Official assures BARMM elections to be inclusive </a></div>Escudero said postponing the BARMM elections for five months would mean improved security for the polls and would allow the Bangsamoro Transition Authority — the regions&#x27; interim government prior to elections — to reallocate seats in parliament previously assigned to Sulu province, which the Supreme Court has ruled is not part of BARMM.