BARMM polls preps ongoing amid Senate’s thwart bid – Comelec

Comelec chair George Garcia

COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said it will continue to prepare for the conduct of the first-ever Bangsamoro parliamentary polls despite a Senate bill seeking to postpone it once more.

Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia made the response after Senate President Francis Escudero filed a bill seeking to defer the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARRM) poll to May 11, 2026.

READ: Bill seeking to postpone BARMM parliamentary polls filed at Senate

Escudero heeded the call of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, which requested an extension of its interim mandate.

He said this extension will allow the region to reconfigure its jurisdictions as well as reallocate the seven out of 80 seats left by Sulu after the Supreme Court ruled that the province is not part of BARRM.

READ: COC filing begins for BARMM elections despite postponement calls

“A bill is not yet a law,” Garcia told reporters in a text message after overseeing the certificate of candidacy filing here at Bangsamoro Government Center. “So we will proceed with all the activities in relation to election preparation for the BARMM.”

“However, as in the past, we will defer to the wisdom of the legislature on this matter,” he added.

The BARRM parliamentary elections are slated to be held on May 12, 2025, along with the midterm elections.

Due to the concurrence, the Comelec estimates that it will only spend P3 billion for the automated process.

Around two million BARRM voters would cast two ballots come election day.

Garcia said the Comelec is prepared whether the BARRM parliamentary polls push through or not.

“We always have a Plan B,” he said.