BARMM News:
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COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Parliament has expressed gratitude and commendation to the Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives for passing bills extending the Bangsamoro transition period for another three years.
“We are grateful that the Senate heeded the clamor of the Bangsamoro people and extended the transition period to allow our leaders to properly establish the institutional framework that will carry our goals towards genuine peace and development,” Parliament Speaker Pangalian Balindong said.
The measures proposed to reschedule the first regional elections from May 2022 to May 2025, providing the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) more time to complete tasks necessary to keep the peace agreement working and achieve the people’s aspirations.
“We owe our distinguished legislators [in the House of Representatives] a debt of gratitude for their noble act to cross party lines and close ranks to ensure the bill’s swift passage,” Balindong added.
Two resolutions commending both houses of Congress were approved in the September 16 regular session of the Parliament.
Meanwhile, in a separate resolution, the BTA has also requested the upper and lower house to immediately convene a bicameral conference committee to reconcile the “slight deviation” between the House and the Senate versions of the bill.
SB 2214 was approved by the Senate on September 6, with 15 senators voting in favor, three senators against, and one senator abstained from voting. The House of Representatives approved its own version of the bill on September 15 with 187 affirmative votes, no negative vote, and no abstention.
Under the House version, the BTA will continue to act as the interim government in the BARMM during the extension of the transition period, provided that President Duterte will appoint 80 new members who will serve until the May 2025 elections when elected officials assume office.
The Senate version, on the other hand, mandates the President who will be elected in 2022 to appoint new members who will serve up until June 30, 2025, or until their successors are elected.
The approved resolution of the Parliament will be forwarded to the Senate and HoR. (Publication and Media Relations Division)