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MANILA, Philippines — The interim regional government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has yet to finalize its position on postponing its first parliamentary elections, said Senator Grace Poe on Monday.
Poe said this during the Senate plenary debates for the 2025 General Appropriations Bill after being asked by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III what the BARMM leadership’s position was on the proposal to postpone the elections.
“Since there’s a resolution, Mr. President, the members of the BARMM will have a meeting regarding this and at the proper time they will give their opinion on the matter,” said Poe in response to Pimentel.
Pimentel also clarified the position of the erstwhile rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation (MILF), which wants the elections to continue next year.
READ: MILF wants BARMM polls in 2025
However, Poe said that the MILF’s position is only a part of the Barmm’s decision as a whole, reiterating that it would still have to be deliberated first.
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“That’s the MILF position; that’s one position that may be considered in their deliberations but the BARMM itself has not come up with their decision after the consultation,” she said.
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All this developed after a recent Supreme Court ruling excluded Sulu from the region.
Due to the High Court’s decision, a bill seeking to defer the BARMM parliamentary polls from 2025 to 2026 has been filed in the Senate.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, for his part, bared that he is “open” to hearing the reason from BARMM executives why they would prefer to have the elections moved.
READ: Bill seeking to postpone BARMM parliamentary polls filed at Senate
He also noted that he was among the senators who previously said that the parliamentary elections would no longer be rescheduled and had to be conducted in 2025.
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