House, Senate OK moving BARMM polls to Oct 13

(UPDATE) SENATE President Francis Escudero said Tuesday that the House of Representatives has agreed to adopt the Senate version of a bill postponing the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) from May 12 to Oct. 13. The final version of the ratified measure will be submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for signature before Congress adjourns on Feb. 7 for the two-month campaign period leading up to the May 12 midterm national and local elections. The president had previously certified the Senate bill as urgent. Escudero said the postponement was necessary due to the Supreme Court decision that removed Sulu from the BARMM. Presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. informed senators that rescheduling the BARMM elections would allow his office to concentrate on its decommissioning efforts. "By managing a significant number of small arms and light weapons through this process, we can reduce the threats posed by loose firearms during the election period and ensure that election-related violence remains under reasonable government control," Galvez said. On Nov. 4, the first day for filing candidacies for the BARMM elections, Escudero filed Senate Bill (SB) 2862, which seeks to postpone the elections to a later date. The explanatory note for the bill said the Supreme Court ruling provided "a compelling reason to postpone the Bangsamoro regular elections, given its legal implications regarding Sulu's exclusion from the autonomous region." The following day, Speaker Martin Romualdez introduced a similar measure, House Bill (HB) 11034. The House subsequently agreed to adopt the Senate version of the bill.