Congress urged to act with urgency in postponing Bangsamoro polls

KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, Philippines — A group of good governance advocates has asked Congress to act with urgency on proposals to postpone the election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) from 2022 to 2025 to give the region more time to transition into a regular government.

Grouped as the Civil Society Organizations Movement for Moral Governance (CSOMMG), the advocates are worried over the tight schedule to have the measures passed into law.

Based on the legislative calendar, there are only 22 session days remaining before Congress adjourns sine die on June 4. Lawmakers will take a break on March 27 and return on May 17. They will start their third regular session on July 26, to hear President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (Sona).

Samsodin Amella, a CSOMMG convenor, said it was important to have the transition extension enacted into law before the President delivers the Sona because if not, Congress might become preoccupied with other equally significant matters such as the national budget.

CSOMMG is lobbying to have Mr. Duterte certify the legislation as urgent, confident that some 1.1 million people endorsing an online petition will convince him to do so.

Lawyer Mary Ann Arnado, secretary general of Mindanao People’s Caucus, said the advocates would bring printed copies of the petition with the signatures—comprising of 72 bound books—to Malacañang on Thursday, the 53rd anniversary of the Jabidah massacre that triggered the Moro rebellion in 1972.

The call for extending the Bangsamoro transition by another three years is premised on the need for more time to accomplish major projects for the region, as work on these were hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, among others.

The creation of the Bangsamoro region is a key component of the peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which was signed in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations.

Negros Occidental Rep. Juliet Ferrer, chair of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms, said a presidential certification on the urgency of the measure would help hasten its passage.

Ferrer’s committee is leading deliberations on five House bills on the same subject filed by Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, Maguindanao Rep. Esmael Mangudadatu and Lanao del Norte Rep. Khalid Dimaporo.

Earlier, Sen. Francis Pangilinan said having Mr. Duterte certify the bill as urgent would be a way to overcome the tight legislative calendar facing its enactment.

Two bills on the subject have been filed in the Senate by Senators Richard Gordon and Aquilino Pimentel III.BARMM was created two years ago following the ratification of Republic Act No. 11054 (Bangsamoro Organic Law). The MILF-led Bangsamoro Transition Authority, whose mandate will end on June 30, 2022, governs the region.

—REPORTS FROM BONG S. SARMIENTO AND RYAN D. ROSAURO