House OKs bill resetting first BARMM polls on final reading
The House of Representatives
MANILA, Philippines — A bill that seeks to reset the first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) elections to May 2026 has been approved by the House of Representatives on the third and final reading.
During the session on Tuesday, House Bill (HB) No. 11144 was approved after 198 lawmakers present voted in the affirmative, with four in the negative, and no abstentions.
Under HB No. 11144, Section 13, Article XVI of Republic Act No. 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will be amended to reset the first-ever polls to the second Monday of May 2026, instead of the original schedule of May 2025.
Having the polls in May 2025 was supposed to keep it in sync with the midterm and national elections.
If enacted, Section 13 will now read as: “The first regular election for the Bangsamoro Government under this Organic Law shall be held on the second Monday of May 2026 and every three (3) years thereafter.”
The terms of the officials in the BARMM’s Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will also be deemed expired after the effectivity of the proposed measure.
After this, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will appoint 80 new interim members of the BTA who will “serve until their successors shall have been elected and qualified.”
Last November 22, Marcos said the call to suspend the 2025 BARMM parliamentary elections was still being studied due to many Supreme Court decisions that would lead to implications.
“There are seven districts in BARMM that used to be in Sulu. Now, they don’t have a congressman, they don’t have a province. There are also eight municipalities that have no district and no province, but won the plebiscite, so they are part of the BARMM, so we will create a new province,” Marcos added.
READ: Marcos on calls to suspend BARMM polls: It is being studied
Makabayan bloc lawmakers, however, opposed this move, with Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas saying that the Bangsamoro people are ready to vote.
“Three years since the first regular election was extended, since then, the Comelec has tallied over 68.6 million registered voters for the 2025 national, local, and BARMM parliamentary elections. There are more than 100 individuals and eight political parties, who formally declared their intent to seek seats in the regional government of the [BARMM],” Brosas said.
“The voters are ready to vote, and there are individuals ready to be voted. With the delay in the first-ever parliamentary elections in BARMM, the Moros are stripped of their right to pick their leaders,” she added.
