THE Senate, voting 15-3 with one abstention, passed on third and final reading Monday the bill resetting the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Sponsored by Senator Francis Tolentino, chairman of the endorsing Committee on Local Governments, Senate Bill 2214 proposed to move the date of the BARMM elections from May 2022 to May 2025, to synchronize with the next national elections, by amending Section 13, Article XVI of Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
Tolentino credited the hard work of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) which accomplished much despite the global pandemic’s significant challenges to the execution of the priority programs and projects of the Bangsamoro government. After holding committee hearings and consultations with stakeholders, Tolentino said his committee saw the need to extend the BARMM transition period in order to implement the political and normalization efforts embodied in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
“However, it [the committee] is also mindful of the Bangsamoro people’s right to assert their democracy in the said region and exercise their right of suffrage. Although the BTA has considerably delivered some of its mandates under the BOL, there is much work yet to be done,” Tolentino explained.
Under Senate Bill 2214, upon the expiration of the terms of the incumbent members of the BTA, the President shall appoint 80 members of BTA who will serve up to June 30, 2025 or until the election of their successors.
“This piece of legislation is a testament to our continued efforts to maintain peace and push for inclusive growth in the BARMM region. Peace is elusive but it is attainable,” Tolentino said.
Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, Senators Richard Gordon, Aquilino Pimentel III, and Risa Hontiveros were also listed as co-authors of the BARMM extension bill.
In the House of Representatives, the Committees on Suffrages and Electoral Reform, Muslim Affairs, and Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, approved last week a committee report that consolidated proposals to extend the BARMM elections. Butch Fernandez