THE Senate and the House of Representatives will conduct separate inquiries into the series of postponements of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections, after concerns surfaced that it was prolonging political uncertainty and denying the Muslim people of Mindanao the right to chart their own destiny.
The thrice-deferred polls were scheduled for March 30 this year, but late last month, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) called it off once again, saying one month and two weeks would not be enough to “legally and operationally” prepare for the electoral exercise.
The Comelec now has to wait for a law to set a new date. Comelec chairman George Garcia hopes that the date will be sometime this year, because by 2027, the commission will already be in the thick of preparations for the presidential elections in 2028.
The most recent election deferment is another major setback in Muslim Mindanao’s quest for autonomy. When the Bangsamoro Organic Law was ratified in 2019, there was a groundswell of optimism that an era of peace and prosperity was within grasp for a region that had been struggling through decades of war and economic decay.
Setting up the framework for a regional parliamentary government was supposed to be a quick, snag-free process. But the decision of Sulu province to pull out of the autonomous region ignited a constitutional firestorm that required a Supreme Court ruling to quell.
With Sulu out, the seven parliamentary seats it was supposed to occupy had to be redistributed. The Supreme Court ordered the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) to carry out the redistribution first before any election can take place.
The controversy dragged on, forcing the postponement of the election three times. Last month, the BTA finally passed a law that complied with the redistributing requirement. A March 30 election seemed a certainty. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. hailed the development as a “clear opportunity” for BARMM citizens to express their aspirations freely.
However, the Comelec’s announcement that it cannot mount an election with the little time left doused all expectations.
Legislators want to know what’s causing the delay. Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri has sponsored a measure to fix a definite date for the BARMM elections to free the region from a “cycle of disenfranchisement.”
“We have had three election postponements in the region thus far, and it is starting to feel like we have trapped ourselves in a loop,” Zubiri said.
While earlier postponements were justified — first by the Covid-19 pandemic and later by legal and redistricting issues following Supreme Court rulings — further delays are no longer acceptable and risk eroding the democratic foundations of the Muslim Mindanao peace framework, he said.
“This is not the future of democratic peace and efficient governance that we envisioned for the region,” Zubiri said.
Escalating violence
He also feared that “the escalating violence in the region is tied to the repeated postponement of the election. If this is truly the reason, then we must not delay the election any longer. We must not delay peace.”
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito echoed Zubiri’s concerns, saying the Mindanao Muslims have waited seven years to elect their leaders.
“Genuine peace comes from a genuine voice. It is born from the democratic exercise of the right to suffrage,” Ejercito said.
In the House, the committees on suffrage and electoral reforms, and people’s participation have started joint hearings on a bill that resets the BARMM polls to Sept. 26.
The poll postponements have also cast a large shadow on the extended existence of the BTA. The delay raises ethical questions. An article posted by the PeaceBuilders Community Inc.’s (PBCI) Infocom Team said the extension of the BTA “prolongs the unelected authority of appointees and delays the people’s exercise of sovereignty.”
“For communities which sacrificed for self-determination, this delay can feel like a betrayal. For those in the margins of the peace process — women, youth, Indigenous Peoples — it can reinforce the perception that decision-making remains in elite hands,” it added.
To dispel that perception, the people of BARMM must be given a bigger voice in shaping the region’s political future. At the same time, the government must institutionalize transparency and encourage mutual accountability.
Only then can the region finally move forward.
