Postponement of BARMM polls to 2025 gets House's final nod

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading  the bill pushing for the postponement of the first regular elections of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). 

House Bill 10121 obtained 187 affirmative votes. It aims to postpone the first regular elections in BARMM from 2022 to 2025.

President Rodrigo Duterte has certified the measure as urgent "to give the Bangsamoro transitional government sufficient time to complete its mandate, establish a strong bureaucracy, and enact foundational codes essential to the achievement of the aspirations of unity, genuine autonomy, and development in BARMM."

The measure states that the Commission on Elections, through the Bangsamoro Electoral Office, shall promulgate rules and regulations for the conduct of the elections, enforce and administer them pursuant to national laws, the Organic Law for the BARMM, and the Bangsamoro Election Code.

Further, it was indicated that upon the expiration of the terms of the incumbent members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, the President shall appoint 80 members of the said BTA who shall serve up to June 30, 2025 or until their successors would be elected.

Its counterpart measure in the Senate was already approved on third and final reading last September 6.—LDF, GMA News