House panel okays BARMM poll reset; Garcia warns of term shortening

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'If the term will end earlier just to synchronize the elections, are we not therefore shortening the term?' Comelec Chairman George Garcia asks the House panel

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Lawmakers tackling the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections pushed to hold them separately from national and local polls to avoid violating constitutional term limits and triggering new legal challenges.

Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia told the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms on Tuesday, February 3, that synchronizing the Bangsamoro elections with national and local polls could shorten the constitutionally mandated three-year term of parliament members if the elections are held in September 2026 but aligned with the May national election cycle.

“If the term will end earlier just to synchronize the elections, are we not therefore shortening the term?” Garcia said. “Under the organic law, it should be three years, and under the Constitution, it should also be three years. We may be violating not only the organic law, but more particularly the Constitution.”

Under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and the Constitution, elected officials are entitled to fixed three-year terms. The House panel was cautioned that ending the term early to match national elections could invite petitions before the Supreme Court, risking further delays.

“The last thing that we want to see is another group going to the Supreme Court filing another petition that will again cause delays,” said committee chairman and Lanao del Sur 1st District Representative Zia Alonto Adiong.

At the committee level, House members approved resetting the first-ever parliamentary elections in the seven-year-old Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to the second Monday of September 2026. For this year, the second Monday falls on September 14.

The committee’s approval, however, still requires the nod of the House of Representatives and the Senate — and changes could be made — before being transmitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for signature.

Created in 2019, the BARMM never had its regional parliamentary elections since 2022 — it has been rescheduled repeatedly due to various reasons, including a 2025 ruling by the Supreme Court that voided the region’s laws on parliamentary districts, and the 2024 exclusion of Sulu province from the Muslim-majority administrative territory.

In January, the BARMM parliament passed a new districting law and amended the region’s electoral law.

Lawyer Benjamin Bacani, executive director of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG), noted that the BARMM’s parliamentary system differs fundamentally from the presidential system, and technically, the region’s parliament can hold elections at any time.

Garcia also said the Constitution does not explicitly require all post-1987 elections to be synchronized, noting that the requirement originates from Republic Act No. 7166, a 1991 law passed by Congress.

“You cannot find any single provision in the Constitution which says that all elections should be synchronized,” he said, adding that Congress could pass a special law making the Bangsamoro polls an exception, provided the three-year term is preserved.

“So long as you are able to comply with the three-year term, that is what is very important,” Garcia said.

He also raised operational and budgetary concerns. Garcia said describing the 2026 vote as a “continuation” of the 2025 national and local elections would allow the reuse of automated election systems and avoid new procurement that could take at least a year.

“The use of the word ‘continuation’ will save the day,” Garcia said. “If this will be a continuation, then we will have no problem. Otherwise, we will be compelled to prepare a new bidding process.”

Garcia said that around P2.5 billion has been allocated for the conduct of the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections, including funds for ballots, transmission and election equipment. He said BARMM funds could also be used if needed.

Election watchdogs told lawmakers that holding separate regional elections could reduce violence and allow the government to concentrate security and administrative resources in the Bangsamoro region. – Rappler.com