2025 BARMM parliamentary polls must push through, says poll watchdog

MANILA, Philippines — Citing costs, a poll watchdog said the first-ever Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARRM) parliamentary elections next year should push through.

Danilo Arao of Kontra Daya disagreed with Senate President Francis Escudero’s plan to file a bill seeking to defer the said elections.

Escudero 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. 

“The [removal of Sulu in BARRM] can be worked out; the election can still push through,” Arao told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview on Tuesday.

“If it’s really dangerous and if there is a high possibility that it may result in election-related violence, I guess that’s the only time the postponement could be justified,” Arao added.

“But under other circumstances, we should assess, but the framework should be within the pushing through of the elections,” he continued.

Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia, who observed the filing of certificates of candidacy for BARRM autonomous elections in Cotabato City, said the poll body is prepared whether the parliamentary polls will push through or not. 

Sans a law postponing it, the polls will be held on May 12, 2025, together with the national midterm elections.

 This means that around two million BARRM voters will cast two ballots come election day: one for the parliamentary seats, and the other one for the national posts.

Garcia said Comelec will shell out around P3 billion for the automated BARRM elections.

“We are talking about P3 billion here, it’s difficult for us to waste this allotment,” Arao said. “That’s taxpayer’s money.”