Duterte signs law that resets BARMM elections
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a bill postponing the first regular elections of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to 2025, Malacañang announced on Friday.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte on Thursday, October 28, signed Republic Act (RA) 11593 or an “Act resetting the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao,” amending for the purpose, Section 13, Article 16 of RA 11054, otherwise known as the “Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.”
The BARMM, which replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is governed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)-led, 80-member interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).
“Sang-ayon po sa batas na ito, binibigyan ng kapangyarihan ang ating Presidente na mag-appoint ng hanggang (According to this law, the President is given the power to appoint up to) 80 new interim members of the BTA who shall serve until June 30, 2025 or until their successors shall have been elected and qualified,” Roque said during his virtual press briefing.
During the extension of the transition period, the BTA will continue to serve as the BARMM interim government.
The President, however, may appoint the 80 new interim members of the BTA who will serve until June 30, 2025 or until the election of their successors, according to RA 11593.
“The Commission on Elections, through the Bangsamoro Electoral Office, shall promulgate rules and regulations for the conduct of the elections, enforce and administer them pursuant to national laws, this Organic Law and the Bangsamoro Election Code,” the new law read.
“If any of the provisions of the Act is held unconstitutional, provisions not affected shall remain valid and binding,” it added. “All laws, decrees, and all other issuances or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this Act, are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.”
The BTA, a provisional law-making body of the BARMM created through Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), is currently under a transition phase.
Under the BOL, the transition period is only three years from 2019 with an election of new BARMM officials also scheduled on May 9, 2022, coinciding with the local and national polls.
Maguindanao Rep. Esmael Mangudadatu, who chairs the Special Committee on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, earlier said the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed the programs of the BTA, including the normalization and decommissioning process for thousands of former MILF combatants.
“The remaining nine months before the May 2022 elections or the (previous) months before the October 2021 filing of candidacy is not enough for both sides to deliver the remaining 65 to 75 percent in the political task alone,” Mangudadatu said.
To date, the decommissioning process is set to start with the third phase involving some 14,000 MILF members. Phase 3 involves 35 percent of the 40,000- strong MIL F, which waged a decades-old war with the government in a bid for Muslim self-rule in Mindanao.
The normalization process includes the decommissioning of MILF combatants and their weapons, and the transformation of several camps into productive and resilient communities.