Senate President Francis Escudero filed a bill on Monday that seeks to postpone the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections from May 12, 2025 to May 11, 2026.

This comes after the Supreme Court ruled to exclude Sulu from BARMM and to clarify the issues surrounding the move of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority parliament to create a new province called Kutawato, consisting of eight newly-formed municipalities that were part of the Special Geographic Area in the BARMM.

Escudero said the creation of a new province necessitates the creation of a legislative district so as not to disenfranchise the voters of the eight affected municipalities, namely Pahamuddin, Kadayangan, Nabalawag, Old Kaabakan, Kapalawan, Malidegao, Tugunan, and Ligawasan, which are all located in North Cotabato.

“It’s important to carry this out to notify our fellow citizens in the BARMM about Congress’s plan to postpone the elections, with the main reason being the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the province of Sulu,” Escudero said.

Escudero is optimistic that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. would certify his bill as urgent due to the importance of the measure and the tight schedule of both chambers for the remainder of the 19th Congress.

In the proposed measure, he said the Supreme Court’s ruling “provides a compelling reason to postpone the Bangsamoro regular elections given its legal implications on the exclusion of Sulu from the autonomous region”.

“This ruling may require a substantial correction of existing laws, particularly RA No. 11054, and the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Districts Act of 2024 (BAA No. 58, 2024), referring to the allocation of the statutory mandated eighty seats in the Bangsamoro Parliament,” Escudero said.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has started to receive certificates of candidacy for the 2025 BARMM parliamentary elections and will continue accepting them until Saturday while waiting for the action of Congress on the possible postponement of the polls. Jaspearl Tan/DMS