Ejercito: 5-month postponement of BARMM polls enough to settle issues

FILE PHOTO: Bangsamoro Parliament. Photo from the official website of BARMM Parliament/ parliament.bangsamoro.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines — The Palace is convinced that five months would be enough to settle election issues in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) before the first regular polls slated in October, at least according to Sen. JV Ejercito.

At a Kapihan sa Senado forum on Thursday, Ejercito said the five-month postponement recommended through Senate Bill No. 2942, was not decided upon haphazardly.

Ejercito said they consulted the Executive Branch and asked if five months would be enough.

READ: PCO confirms Marcos is seeking BARMM poll postponement to Oct

“We asked them if it’s feasible. Of course, we coordinated with them and asked what the executive’s stand was — from the executive secretary. That’s what they recommended. They think five months would be enough,” he said partly in Filipino.

The senator is hoping that the bill will gain the upper chamber’s third reading approval by Monday. Pursuant to the legislative process that measures go through, a bicameral conference committee shall be tasked to reconcile conflicting provisions of the House and Senate bills regarding postponement of BARMM elections.

But how would conferees from the House of Representatives and the Senate decide between the proposed 5 month and one year postponement? Will they meet halfway or decide on any number the majority wants?

“More often than not there’s a compromise. Probably we can meet halfway, may ganon eh. But sometimes they would — the House — would accede [and] adopt the Senate version,” said Ejercito.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier asked Congress to speed up the passage of the measure that allows the postponement of the elections BARMM.

At the Senate, the legislation was approved on second reading Tuesday.

Only Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel voted against the passage of SBN 2942, believing that there had been a number of times that the BARMM elections had been reset and moving it to October 2025 would permanently “desynchronize” it from national and local elections.

The BARMM election was initially proposed to be moved from May 12, 2025 to August 11, 2025.

But now, Ejercito, sponsor of the bill, said it will be moved to October 13 of the same year.

“The next election shall be held and synchronized with the 2028 national elections, and every 3 years thereafter,” Ejercito’s office previously told reporters.