MANILA, Philippines — The Office of Special Assistant to the President (OSAP) said it is aligned with the proposed Congress legislation to defer the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) 2025 polls until 2026, noting the need for more time to review matters surrounding the elections.
OSAP, headed by Antonio Lagdameo Jr., particularly supports Senate Bill 2862 and House Bill 11034, which take into account the need to resolve "institutional and statutory issues" and a review of laws for the elections.
One of the main areas of concern for the postponement is the formation of eight new municipalities in BARMM that warranted Congress to create a new law in support of the region's Parliament Resolution No. 499 last September for the creation of a new province called “Kutawato.”
Several lawmakers fear that voters in the newly formed municipalities could not vote for representatives and their own governor if Congress failed to pass the law to create the province of Kutawato in time and would create unequal representation among Bangsamoro districts.
The postponement will also help deal with the exclusion of Sulu Province under BARMM and will give lawmakers ample time to pass "correction" of existing laws, according to the bill.
"Taking into account the now new Bangsamoro territorial jurisdiction by virtue of the said decision, there is a need for a new enabling autonomy act for redistricting to reflect Sulu’s exclusion from the BARMM and ensure the required proportional representation among the remaining districts," the OSAP wrote in its position paper.
"OSAP finds the general text of the measure in order and concurs that there is a need to study all the legal implications arising from the Supreme Court decision on the Province of Sulu and revisit the current legal infrastructure to ensure proportional and equitable representation within the BARMM and prevent the disenfranchisement of its votershondawin," it added.
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