Proposed Bangsamoro polls schedule one step away from becoming law

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed schedule for the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is one step closer to becoming a law after both Houses of Congress ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the bill.

The House of Representatives and the Senate separately ratified the bicameral conference report on the disagreeing provisions of House Bill (HB) No. 8220 and Senate Bill (SB) No. 1823, which contains the proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 11054 or the BARMM Organic Law.

Under the proposal, the next BARMM parliamentary elections will be held on the second Monday of September, coinciding with the national and local elections in May 2031, and thereafter every three years.

READ: Bangsamoro elections postponed for 4th time

This means the winners of the September polls will have terms of up to five years.  Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said in his manifestation after the bicameral conference’s report on the bill that his request is for BARMM officials to make the most out of their five-year terms.

“In the Bicameral Conference Committee Report, we have simplified the BARMM election timeline by setting the first election to September this year, and the subsequent elections to coincide with the national and local elections in May 2031, and every three years thereafter,” Zubiri said.

“We have also settled the particularities of the assumption of office of parliamentary officials, specifying that they will take office on October 30 this year […] Now, I do have just one plea for whoever gets seats in the Bangsamoro Parliament this year: they have to make the most of their five-year term to help their region,” he added.

HB No. 8220 was approved last March 10, after 247 lawmakers voted in the affirmative, with none of the lawmakers present voting against it, and two abstentions.

Aside from the schedule, the bill provides that during the extension of the transition period, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) “shall continue as the interim government” in the BARMM “unless such interim members are replaced by the President, or their tenure is shortened by their election to a different office or by other causes.”

The next election will also start using the automated system.

Previously, the first BARMM parliamentary polls were scheduled for March 30, 2026.  However, with the suspension, there have been calls to conduct the elections immediately after some members of the parliament asked that the first polls be held in 2028, synchronized with the country’s general elections.

READ: March 30 BARMM elections a go ‘at all costs’ – Comelec

But the Coalition for Social Accountability and Transparency (CSAT) said that any further delay will just “undermine the democratic transition, erode public trust in institutions, and contradict both the spirit and intent of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).”

Early this March, the Senate approved its version of a measure that resets the BARMM parliamentary elections to September 2026.

The measure, authored by Zubiri, was a response to the failure to hold the October 2025 regional polls due to legal issues, as well as the impossibility of conducting them on March 30. /mr