Tumugon ang Kongreso sa nais ng Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) na i-reset o ipagpaliban ng isang taon ang unang parliamentary elections ng BARMM.
Sa House Bill 11034 na pangunahing inihain ni Speaker Martin Romualdez, mula sa petsang May 12, 2025 ay gagawin na ang BARMM elections sa May 11, 2026.
Isang kahalintulad na panukala na ang inihain ni Senate President Chiz Escudero.
Paliwanag ni Romualdez, ang pagpapaliban sa eleksyon sa 2026 ay magbibigay daan para maayos ang komposisyon ng parliyamento lalo na at mayroon nang desisyon ng Korte Suprema na hindi na kasama ang Sulu sa BARMM.
“This postponement is not a delay in progress, but rather a necessary step to ensure that the foundations we are building for BARMM are solid and capable of supporting a sustainable autonomous government,” paliwanag ni Speaker Romualdez.
Ipinaliwanag naman ni Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, isa sa mga may-akda rin ng panukala na mayroong malaking epekto ang pagkaka-alis ng Sulu sa BARMM core territory.
Dahil dito, may 7 district representation seats na kailangan ngayong i-reallocate.
“Yung ruling po ng supreme court excluding Sulu now as part of [the] core territory in BARMM really has asubstantial impact on how we would hold the elections in the BARMM for the first time. Kasi the BARMM is a parliamentary setup. So meron po dyang party representation, may district representation and may sectoral representation. So the composition really of the parliament is meron pong mga seats allotted to each provinces within the core territory of the BARMM. Ang alam ko, pito ang seats dyan allotted for the district representation for Sulu. Now that Sulu is out of the core territory, of course, kailangan may readjustment doon sa allotment ng seats,” paliwanag ni Adiong.
Bilang parliyamento, may executive powers din aniya ang mga ihahalal kaya’t mahalagang kumpleto ang 80 seats.
“What’s important kasi na dapat natin maintindihan in a parliamentary setup kasi is that apart from its legislative functions, they also can exercise executive authority and powers. So it’s important to have the 80 seats completed and be assumed by each provinces because the formulation of a coalition within the parliament would have to establish the government of the day,” sabi pa niya.
Bibigyang kapangyarihan din sa panukala ang Pangulo ng Pilipinas na mag-appoint ng bagong miyembro ng parliyamento.| ulat ni Kathleen Forbes
