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- EDD K. USMAN | X (Twitter): @edd181 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 |Facebook: SDN – SciTech & Digital News
SENATE, Pasay City (SDN) — For five months — from May 12 to October 13, 2025 — the postponement of the historic first Bangsamoro parliamentary polls.
This came out in the amendment phase on Tuesday, January 28, of Senate Bill No. 2942, which proposed a three-month resetting. A day earlier, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jose Victor “JV” G. Estrada opened the plenary floor for interpellations.
Senators Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Robinhood “Abdulaziz” Padilla, and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III came forward for the interpellations, as they raised issues on the bill, which seeks to postpone for three months — May to August — the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The senators agreed the three months period was too short to do anything meaningful for the government of the BARMM to complete its tasks.
Member of the Parliament (MP) May Ann A. Arnado agreed in an interview with SDN – SciTech & Digital News that a ninety-day postponement does not mean much, which the Senate’s Committee on Local Government wanted.
Arnado, vice president for Settler Community of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), noted there were “four interpellations and the common conception yesterday (January 27) was they see three months period was very short.”
Watch: https://youtu.be/gDpkYaZtIQY?si=UN9I0Tsq2QYmQC2P
She added, “There were some views (of the senators) that this could be extended or stretched to do more what needs to be done and finish the tasks of the BTA Parliament.”
Bangsamoro officials led by Chief Minister Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim, including Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal, Parliament members, and others attended the two-day Senate session.
Iqbal made a notable observation, saying he saw the senators acknowledged the primacy of peace and its fruits in the Bangsamoro region. He lauded the senators for their attention to the gains of the peace process.
Arnado said a period of three months “is practically meaningless. You can hardly achieve anything in three months.”
Looking at three months delay it in a practical way, Arnado said it was better to go through with the parliamentary polls. “The midterm elections should push through. It is not practical, it is not substantial, and it is also not cost-effective. Even the Comelec (Commission on Elections) will have a hard time implementing it.”
Sulu, new “Kutawato” province, other issues required postponement
“The senators’ views yesterday were the same, so there might be a chance to make it six months, one year. That will depend on them when they open the period for amendments this afternoon during which the Senate’s final version will come out,” said Arnado. This interview was made on Tuesday, January 28, at the sidelines of the Senate plenary session on the Bangsamoro bill’s period of amendments.
As it turned out, she was correct. The senators passed on second reading SB No. 2942, extending the postponement to five months. They also agreed on a holdover capacity for the incumbent BARMM officials and consider those who already filed their Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) for the May 12 polls to be automatically aspirants, without needing to fill up another COC.
But as usual, Congress’s Bicameral Committee will have to meet to reconcile their respective version of their bills.
Arnado noted that any variance in their legislative measure the solons will address it in their Bicam meeting.
Recall that Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero had filed a bill resetting the BARMM elections for a year-long period; House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez had his bill already approved in the third and final reading calling for one year postponement.
The uniquely Philippine parliamentary polls setup will elect the 80 regular Members of the Parliament (MPs), from which the first elected BARMM chief minister will be chosen from their ranks. Of course, the majority party will have that privilege. Eight regional parties registered with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be vying in the political exercise, but they have to wait a little more.
As set up, the election for the MPs is synchronized with the National and Local Elections (NLE) on May 12, but issues such as the removal of Sulu from the BARMM family’s umbilical cord, the creation of a new province to be called “Kutawato” out of the eight new municipalities of the Special Geographic Area (SGA) in North Cotabato, the unfinished tasks of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament put a damper on the holding of the regional polls.
The senators also discussed the possibility of another plebiscite to see if the people of Sulu still want to be part of the BARMM.
Thus, calls for postponement of another three years emerged earlier from the Parliament and from Mindanao-based civil society organizations (CSOs) to give the BARMM leadership more time in the transition from the defunct-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to the BARMM, the new political entity (NPE) that replaced the former.
Hold on to the peace accord
Regional elections were scheduled in May 2022, but it was postponed to 2025, mainly because of the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic that smashed through from China, killing a massive number of people globally, including over 60,000 in the Philippines.
The pandemic stalled the Bangsamoro government’s work on the transition from ARMM to BARMM that required the establishment of governmental structures, bureaucracy, and passage of six priority legislations. Extending the transition phase became a necessity, then, for the first time.
In the interview with SDN, Arnado cited the gauntlet of challenges the regional government is presently facing.
“We just have to continue doing good to improve the lives of our fellow Bangsamoro. We need to pass through these (elections, politics) to be able to establish the regular government, but we must not lose sight that this is a long, strategic process. We cannot change the system overnight,” she emphasizes.
The BARMM solon pointed out that even in the region’s form of election, “we have some changes in the law but in terms of implementation…(this is a) challenge (on the transition). What is important is the leadersbip of the BARMM is performing. There’s the MILF and the national government who are still very much fully committed to implement the terms and provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.”
Aranado continues: “So, we must hold on to the peace agreement. This is the one we can rely on because it will really seal the very promising future of our next generation. (♡)