Bill postponing BARMM elections certified as urgent
President Marcos has asked Congress to speed up the passage of a measure that allows the postponement of the elections for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) that will be held simultaneous with the midterm elections on May 12.
Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cesar Chavez confirmed earlier reports on the presidential certification, though Malacañang has yet to release a copy of the President’s letter to Congress.
In a Viber message to reporters, Chavez said the postponement would allow the Bangsamoro transitional government to “realign its governance structure.”
“It will also ensure that the region’s aspirations for unity, inclusivity and genuine autonomy are achieved,” he said.
According to Chavez, a copy of the President’s certification was also transmitted to Speaker Martin Romualdez and Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza, presidential adviser on legislative affairs.
On Tuesday night, the Senate approved Senate Bill No. 2942, which seeks to reset again the first regular elections in BARMM to October this year.
Senate President Francis Escudero was quoted in reports that the Senate was fasttracking the passage of the bill so that it would be passed on the third and final reading next week, foregoing the need for the President’s certification.
The House of Representatives passed its version of the BARMM election postponement in December. The lower chamber proposed to reset the polls to May 2026.
Priority legislation
Under the 1987 Constitution, the President may certify bills as urgent, which is treated as a request for Congress to pass a measure more quickly.
When the President certifies a bill as “urgent,” it accelerates the legislative process in both the House of Representatives and the Senate and serves as a directive to lawmakers to prioritize the passage of the bill. The process allows the bypassing of certain procedural requirements that can otherwise delay its passage, shortens the review process and allows for less time for debate.
Presidential certifications, however, are also frowned upon as they pose the risk of rushed decisions with lawmakers having limited time for consultation.
If passed into law, it will be the second postponement of the BARMM elections, originally scheduled for May 2022.
It was first postponed to 2025 through Republic Act No. 11593, signed by then President Rodrigo Duterte in 2021.
Fresh calls were made to postpone the region’s first parliamentary elections after the Supreme Court affirmed in November last year its earlier ruling excluding Sulu province from BARMM.
Critics argued that postponing elections deprived the Bangsamoro people of their right to choose their leaders, undermining democratic processes and accountability.
Since its creation in 2019, BARMM has been governed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority composed of 80 presidential appointees—41 nominated by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and 39 by the government. When the 2022 regional parliamentary election was reset to 2025, President Marcos appointed another set of BTA members.
Appointments
Meanwhile, Commission on Elections Chair George Erwin Garcia said printing of official ballots for the BARMM parliamentary polls would not yet proceed following Mr. Marcos’ directive to Congress.
“Because of [this] recent development we did not yet proceed with the printing of the BARMM parliamentary ballots. Only the national and local elections ballots [are being printed],” Garcia told reporters in a Viber message.
“The reason is because we may end up opening the filing of candidacy anew for the region in the event of redistricting as a result of reapportionment of the slots originally assigned to Sulu,” he added, citing the impact of the high court decision excluding Sulu from BARMM.
Garcia was referring to the seven seats originally allotted for Sulu as part of the 32 district seats in the Bangsamoro Parliament. —WITH A REPORT FROM JEROME ANING
