Senator Ejercito seeks reset of Bangsamoro polls to August 11, 2025
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 24 January) – Senate Deputy Majority Leader Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito has filed a bill seeking to reset the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections to August 11, 2025, or three months from its schedule, which is simultaneous with the midterm national and local elections on May 12.
Senate Bill 2942 also seeks to amend Article XVI, Section 13 of Republic Act 11054, also known as the Bangsamoro Organic Law. It wants to synchronize future Bangsamoro regional elections with the 2028 national polls and every three years thereafter.
This is the second bill filed in the Senate seeking to postpone the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections. Last November, Senate President Francis Escudero sponsored Senate Bill 2862 seeking to postpone the regional polls from May 12, 2025 to May 11, 2026.
“After careful deliberation and consultations with all stakeholders, we have crafted a committee report that is ‘both inclusive and acceptable’,” Ejercito said in a statement.
Escudero is a co-author of Ejercito’s bill filed last Wednesday, January 22.
Ejercito noted that while the right to vote is paramount, the “proposed adjustment serves a greater purpose.”
“This bill does not seek to deny anyone their right to vote. Instead, it proposes a reasonable adjustment to give the Commission on Elections significant time to prepare and the current Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) to wind up their transactions,” Ejercito said.
Under the measure, which is pending second reading, the BTA members will serve until their successors are elected and sworn into office.
Once enacted, the measure aims “to streamline nationwide electoral processes and provide the Bangsamoro region a steady and effective path toward self-governance,” the statement said.
In November last year, Ejercito, chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government, led the hearing on the proposed measure, which was attended by representatives from the affected local government units.
Last December, the House of Representatives approved the postponement of the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro region.
The House version was similar to the one filed by Escudero – moving the regional elections from May 12, 2025 to May 11, 2026.
The House unanimously approved the measure sponsored by House Speaker Martin Romualdez with 198 votes in favor and four against.
Romualdez said in a statement the one-year postponement “would allow for more time for the promotion of broader participation from political parties and the electorate, and enhance their understanding of new electoral processes.”
It would also give the concerned authorities the chance to resolve emerging issues arising from the final decision of the Supreme Court (SC) excluding the province of Sulu from Bangsamoro region, he added.
The Mindanawon lawmakers who co-authored Romualdez’s House Bill 11144 are Deputy Speaker Yasser Alonto Balindong (Lanao del Sur), Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur, Bai Dimple Mastura of Maguindanao del Norte, Munir Arbison Jr. of Sulu, Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo and Sittie Aminah Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte, Samier Tan of Sulu, and Shame Tan-Tambut of Kusug Tausug Partylist.
The first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections would have been held in May 2022 but former President Rodrigo Duterte postponed it to May 2025. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
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