MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Special Assistant to the President (OSAP) is backing the senate bill filed to postpone the first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary polls.
In a position paper dated Wednesday, the OSAP argued that “there is a need to study all the legal implications arising from the Supreme Court decision on the Province of Sulu and revisit the current legal infrastructure to ensure proportional and equitable representation within the BARMM and prevent disenfranchisement of its voters.”
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“The foregoing questions and legal gaps necessitate the resetting of the conduct of the BARMM parliamentary elections,” OSAP added.
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Senate President Chiz Escudero who filed Senate Bill 2862 on Monday said that he is proposing to move the parliamentary elections from May 12, 2025 to May 11, 2026 mainly due to the Supreme Court ruling that Sulu province is no longer part of the region.
The OSAP said that the province’s exclusion from the BARMM directly impacts the number of seats for the parliamentary district representatives.
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This means that seven seats originally dedicated to the Sulu province will be excluded from the base number of 80 seats.
The office called for a “new enabling autonomy act for redistricting to reflect Sulu’s exclusion from the BARMM and ensure the required proportional representation among the remaining districts.”
Further, OSAP also noted that the Commission on Elections will have no basis to push through with the parliamentary elections if there are no redistricting acts.
The Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament adopted a resolution in October requesting the Senate and the House of Representatives to extend the transition period to address key issues in the region.
The parliament noted the implications of the exclusion of Sulu from BARMM, emphasizing that the extension of the transition period and postponement of the elections will ensure “broader political participation.”