Senate OKs bill moving BARMM polls to Oct. 2025

The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading the bill rescheduling the first-ever Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) elections from May 12, 2025 to October 13, 2025.

Senate Bill 2942 was approved with 18 affirmative votes, one negative vote, and zero abstention.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III voted against the measure.

In a manifestation, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, sponsor of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, said he only voted for the measure as there is a need to ask Sulu province if it wants to be part of BARMM following the Supreme Court order.

"Give them a chance, one last chance to make that self-determination kung talagang gusto nilang masama sa BARMM," he said.

He also expressed intention to join the bicameral conference meeting on the House and Senate's versions of the BARMM postponement bill as wanted the postponement to be longer than the five-month period under the upper chamber's proposal.

"I'm sad that it is only five months... 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 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. So my appeal is, baka sa bicam, pwede pa natin patagalin pa ng konti," Zubiri said.

Under SB 2942, BARMM polls after the proposed October 13, 2025 elections shall be held and synchronized with the 2028 national elections, and every three years thereafter.

The terms of those who will be elected in the first BARMM polls will commence at noon of October 30, 2025.

During the extension of the transition period, officials of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority will continue serving until their successors have been elected, unless such interim members are replaced by the President or their tenure is shortened by their election to a different position.

Those who filed their certificate of candidacy (COC) for the parliamentary districts and nominees for party representatives listed in the Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance in Manifestations of Intent to Participate for the supposed May 12, 2025 BARMM polls will be automatically considered as candidates and nominees in the October 2025 elections.

New filings for COCs and Manifestations of Intent to Participate will not be entertained.

Substitution of candidates and nominees is also not allowed, except in cases of death or disqualification.

SB 2942 authorizes the Commission on Elections to issue the appropriate guidelines on the filing of candidacies in case the seats originally allocated to the Sulu province are re-apportioned by the Bangsamoro parliament.

The Senate version of the bill is different from the proposal in the House of Representatives.

The bill that was approved on third and final reading in the House proposed to defer the polls to May 2026.

Should this be the case, a bicameral conference committee will be convened to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of the versions of the two chambers.

The Senate or the House of Representatives could also just adopt the version that they wanted to send to Malacañang. —AOL, GMA Integrated News