House passes measure setting BARMM polls
COTABATO CITY—The parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) may be finally held later this year as the House of Representatives passed its version of a measure that sets a new schedule for the oft-postponed political exercise.
House Bill (HB) No. 8220 hurdled its third and final reading on Tuesday, paving the way for its harmonization with the Senate version of the measure, Senate Bill (SB) No. 1823, which was approved on March 2.
The bill, which underwent public consultations through the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms, was shepherded in the plenary by Majority Floor Leader Sandro Marcos and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, its principal author and sponsor, with Deputy Speaker Yasser Alonto Balindong presiding the session.
The bill was eventually passed, garnering 247 affirmative votes, two abstentions and no opposition.
“This bill protects the integrity of the transition [process] by putting the first parliamentary elections on firm legal ground, so the people of Bangsamoro can finally choose their leaders through the ballot,” Adiong explained.
Lead time
Marcos said the measure provides the Commission on Elections a good lead time to prepare for the first parliamentary elections in the BARMM, a major milestone of the 2014 peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Fixing a date for the regional elections is necessary after the Oct. 13, 2025, schedule set by Congress did not push through due to legal issues.
HB 8220 and SB 1823 had mostly identical provisions, leaving only a few ones to be harmonized. For one, both measures set the polls on the second Monday of September this year, and decreed that those elected will assume office on Oct. 30.
Both measures set the next regular parliamentary elections in 2031, synchronized with the schedule for the rest of the country, and every three years thereafter.
The bills differed on the date of assumption of office after the 2031 polls. The House set it at noon of June 30, while the Senate set it at noon of the 30th day following the election of members of parliament (MPs).
Yet, both measures mandated the use of the same automated election system employed during the midterm elections of May 12, 2025.
As it is, the term of the first elected MPs will stretch for almost five years, but the subsequent ones will serve for three years.
When finally passed into law, the measure will be the third passed by Congress resetting the BARMM parliamentary elections. The first was to move it from May 2022 to May 2025, then to Oct. 13, 2025.
On Wednesday, Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. lauded the House leadership for firming up the bill.
He particularly cited Adiong’s “unwavering commitment and sense of urgency” in having it passed as well as in “making his fellow legislators understand the profound significance of the BARMM elections and how it will enable the people of the Bangsamoro to chart the socioeconomic and political future of the region.”
