Senate President Francis Escudero said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is allowed to continue their ongoing preparations for the 2025 Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary polls since no legislation deferring it has been enacted yet.
Escudero said Senate Bill (SB) No. 2862, which contains the upper chamber’s position on the issue, is still pending at the committee level. He noted that discussions on proposals to delay the BARMM elections cannot be rushed and must go through the proper legislative processes.
“That’s really the state of the law—if it’s not postponed, then it must go on. If there’s no law postponing it, it shall proceed. The Comelec must not assume that just because of someone’s say-so it will be postponed without the law,” Escudero told reporters at the Kapihan sa Senado on Thursday.
Escudero filed SB 2862 himself upon request from President Ferdinand Marcos, who held reservations in pushing through with the poll exercise after BARMM governors aired some concerns during a meeting in Malacañang last month.
Some of the local officials are saying, because of the Supreme Court decision of separating Sulu from BARMM, there are many implications because of the changes that have to be made,” Marcos told reporters. “Perhaps, we might not be able to do it (BARMM elections) by May of next year.”
Escudero also mentioned that members of the House of Representatives have also yet to start their discussions on proposals to reschedule the BARMM elections, thus there is no reason for Senate Committee on Local Government chairperson Joseph Victor Ejercito to rush it.
