MANILA, Philippines — A bill seeking to postpone for three years the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) initially set in 2022 is now a step closer to the Senate’s final approval.
During Wednesday’s session, the senate approved on second reading Senate Bill No. 2214, which seeks to reset the holding of the BARMM elections from May 2022 to May 2025.
In rescheduling the year of the elections, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will be given more time to perform its mandate considering that the pandemic posed “significant challenges” on the accomplishment of its priority programs and projects, Senator Francis Tolentino said when he sponsored the bill in plenary last May.
“The global pandemic we are facing has posed significant challenges on the accomplishment of the priority programs and projects of the BTA, as it has for the national government as a whole,” Tolentino added.
READ: Bill seeking to postpone 1st BARMM polls now up for Senate deliberations
“Development projects had to take a back seat to the formulation and implementation of an effective response to the global health crisis,” he further said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson was the lone dissenter of the bill while Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and Senator Imee Marcos abstained.
According to Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, the Palace is expected to certify the bill as urgent.
“Senator Bong Go told us, together with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, that the priority certification is forthcoming,” Zubiri told his colleagues.
With an urgent certification, the Senate can immediately pass the measure on third and final reading even without waiting for three days after the second reading approval.