Bicam agrees on Oct. 13 Bangsamoro polls
Metro Manila, Philippines – The first parliamentary elections of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will be moved to Oct. 13 under an agreement reached at the bicameral conference committee on Tuesday, February 4.
While the House initially proposed a year-long postponement, the representatives on Tuesday agreed to adopt the Senate's five-month delay. The polls were originally set to coincide with the midterm elections on May 12.
“We used the Senate version as a working draft,” Senator JV Ejercito, chairman of the Senate committee on local government, said in a chance interview with reporters after the bicam meeting.
He said some House recommendations were also adopted in the reconciled version, but did not provide details.
Ejercito said elections needed to be postponed due to pending legal issues, including the status of the seven parliamentary seats in Sulu after the Supreme Court declared that the province is not part of BARMM.
Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero highlighted the importance of separating the first-ever BARMM elections from the midterm polls to allow the deployment of more security forces to conflict areas in the region.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) earlier said it needs P2.5 billion more to cover adjustments for a separate election, such as honoraria for teachers and election paraphernalia.
However, Escudero said there is no need to pass a supplemental budget.
“Inotorisa namin na pwedeng gamitin ng Comelec yung kanilang savings at anumang appropriations na pwedeng ibigay sa kanila ng DBM (Department of Budget and Management) mula rin sa savings,” Escudero said.
[Translation: "We authorized the COMELEC to use its savings and any appropriations that may be provided to them by the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) from their savings.]
He said the body can also tap funds for the December barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections if they would also be postponed, as proposed in both houses of Congress.
