The Senate has approved the bill resetting the first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) elections from May 12 to October 13, 2025.
Eighteen (18) senators voted in favor of Senate Bill No. 2942 under Committee Report No. 466; Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III voted in the negative. There were no abstentions.
The bill has been certified as urgent by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito had said moving the BARMM elections to a later period is essential to ensuring stability in the region.
Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, for his part, appealed to have the BARMM polls postponed for a bit further.
“I'm sad that it (postponement) is only five months. I respect our dear sponsor, our dear friend, Senator JV. I know the wish of upstairs was to keep it short and not too long. And I'm still hoping that we can still extend it a bit,” Zubiri manifested during the Senate plenary session on Monday, February 3.
“Kasi yung five months po babagsak ng October yan. Babalik po tayo ng last week of July. So technically, August na lang po tayo magtatrabaho niyan. August and September. And then we need a plebiscite pa to confirm if we pass a law (Because the five months postponement will fall on October. Congress session will return on the last week of July. So technically, we will be working by August, August and September. And then we need a plebiscite to confirm if we pass a law),” Zubiri explained.
“So my appeal is, baka sa bicam, pwede pa natin patagalin pa ng konti. Pahabain pa ng konti (maybe at the bicameral conference committee, we can lengthen it a little),” he added.
“And I would like to make a request to our dear Senate President who's here beside me now, if I can still be made a member of the bicam, if there will be a bicam, and with the sponsor approving that I be part of the bicam committee during the discussions with the House,” said Zubiri, who hails from Bukidnon.
Zubiri said he supports the boll considering the recent Supreme Court ruling which separated Sulu from the BARMM.
“We need time to reconfigure the composition of the Bangsamoro Parliament, to address the parliamentary seats that would have belonged to Sulu,” he said.
“We must also consider the legislative representation of the Special Geographic Area—that we are trying to establish as a new province in the Bangsamoro—to make sure that they are not disenfranchised when it comes to the elections,” the lawmaker said.