Senate Moves to Reschedule Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections to October 2025
The first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections, initially set for May 12, 2025, are now poised to be rescheduled to October 13, 2025. The Senate is expected to pass the bill on third and final reading on Monday, February 3, just days before Congress adjourns. This marks a significant shift in the political timeline of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The journey to this decision began when Senate President Francis Escudero filed Senate Bill 2862 on November 4, 2024, proposing to move the election date to May 11, 2026. The bill also stipulated that the term of the Bangsamoro Transition authority (BTA) would expire upon the law’s effectivity, with the President appointing a new set of 80 members to serve until successors are elected.
Meanwhile, the House of representatives, led by Speaker Martin Romualdez, filed House Bill 11034 on november 5, seeking the same postponement. The Senate later substituted SB 2862 with Senate Bill 2942, which considered House Bill 11144. SB 2942 initially reset the election to May 11, 2026, then proposed August 11, 2025, before settling on October 13, 2025.
The bill was passed on second reading with amendments on January 28 and is scheduled for its final reading on February 3. A bicameral committee conference is expected to convene on tuesday to reconcile differences and submit a report for approval by both houses of Congress.
If the Senate-proposed date of October 13 is approved, this will mark the second postponement of the BARMM parliamentary polls and the second extension of the BTA. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. certified the passage of SB 2942 as urgent, aligning the next election with the May 2028 national and local elections and every three years thereafter.
The bill ensures that candidates who filed their Certificates of Candidacy for the May 2025 polls will automatically be considered for the October 2025 election. New filings will not be entertained, and substitutions will only be allowed in cases of death or disqualification. The Commission on elections (Comelec) is authorized to issue guidelines if seats allocated to Sulu are re-apportioned by the Bangsamoro Parliament.
Sulu’s exclusion from the BARMM was finalized by a Supreme Court ruling in September 2024, which declared Republic Act 11054 constitutional except for the provision that provinces and cities of the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) would vote as one geographical unit. Sulu, the lone ARMM province that voted against RA 11054, had filed a petition in 2018 to declare the law unconstitutional.
The BARMM,a product of the 2014 Extensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB),was established after 17 years of peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The transition period, initially set to end in June 2022, was extended to June 2025. The BTA sought a further extension to 2028,but both houses of congress rejected the proposal.
| Key Details | Facts |
|——————|—————–|
| Original Election Date | May 12, 2025 |
| Proposed New Date | October 13, 2025 |
| Senate Bill | SB 2942 |
| house Bill | HB 11144 |
| BTA Members | 80 |
| Transition Period | Extended to June 30, 2025 |
As the senate prepares for the final reading, the rescheduling of the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections underscores the complexities of governance in the region. The decision will shape the future of the BARMM, ensuring continuity while addressing the challenges of transition.
