Zubiri files bill to reset BARMM polls on March 30, 2026

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri has filed a proposed measure resetting the 2025 Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections to March 30, 2026, as the schedule remains in limbo.

Senate Bill 1587 seeks to amend the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to reset BARMM elections, with terms of office to begin at noon on April 30 following their election.

The bill also proposed that the next BARMM election would be synchronized with the 2028 national elections and every three years thereafter.

“It has been more than six years since the BARMM was established, and the Bangsamoro people have yet to exercise their power to elect their own leaders. The core principles of BOL is self-governance and self-determination, and these cannot be achieved without the people’s right to vote,” Zubiri said in a statement.

“Kaya we are filing this bill to push for the BARMM’s parliamentary elections this March. Para may mandato ng batas ang kauna-unahang eleksyon sa rehiyon,” he added.

(We’re filing the bill so that BARMM’s first-ever parliamentary elections this March will be mandated by the law.)

The bill mandates the Commission on Elections (Comelec), through the Bangsamoro Electoral Office, to issue and enforce rules for the elections in line with national law, the BOL, and the Bangsamoro Electoral Code.

Zubiri pointed out that his proposed measure follows the Supreme Court’s ruling that excluded Sulu from BARMM and decision nullifying the Bangsamoro Parliament’s 2025 redistricting law and ordering a new, valid apportionment before the elections can proceed.

The bill also provides that the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will remain as BARMM’s interim government during the extended Transition Period, unless members are replaced by the President or elected to another office.

They will serve until successors are elected and duly qualified.

The schedule for BARMM’s parliamentary elections remains in limbo after the passage of a new districting law reallocating the seven seats initially assigned to Sulu.

The Bangsamoro Parliament approved on third and final reading the proposed Parliament Bill 415 after months of delay.

Under the new law, parliamentary seats are allocated as follows: nine for Lanao del Sur; five each for Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur; four each for Basilan and Tawi-Tawi; three for Cotabato City; and two for the Special Geographic Area. — Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News