Covid-19 not a reason to postpone BARMM polls

SENATOR PANFILO Lacson warned of the danger of citing the Covid-19 pandemic as a major reason in the need to postpone the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), CNN Philippines reported.

Senator Panfilo Lacson

Lacson’s warning came after Senator Francis Tolentino, who is seeking to postpone the polls, said that it is legally impossible to hold the elections since Bangsamoro's electoral code and parliamentary districts have not been created.

He also asked Tolentino what would happen if the Bangsamoro parliament would still fail to accomplish these by 2025.

The Senate Bill 2214, filed by Tolentino and Senators Aquilino Pimentel and Richard Gordon, seeks to amend the Bangsamoro Organic Law to allow the resetting of the BARMM polls from 2022 to 2025. It would extend the term of the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim government led by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Murad Ebrahim, now the BARMM Chief Minister.

Lacson said postponing the Bangsamoro elections would require a plebiscite.

“We are treading on a very dangerous ground or precedent here because if the pandemic is the reason for the postponement of the BARMM election next year, it could open the floodgates to a no-el situation in the national and local elections next year,” Lacson said.

But Tolentino was quick to say that: “I am sure, Mr. President, Covid-19 will not exist past May 2025 or 2028. The law and this chamber will not permit that to happen.”

However, Lacson asked Tolentino to refrain from mentioning the pandemic to avoid the same logic from being used to push for a “no-election” scenario in the entire country in 2022 presidential polls.

President Rodrigo Duterte has not certified as urgent the measure seeking to postpone the BARMM elections.

“Why the rush when there is no certification as urgent 'yung measure and wala namang galaw sa House? What are we doing here?" Lacson asked during the plenary debates on Senate Bill 2214, adding, the Senate should probably take its time studying possible legal challenges.

According to CNN Philippines, Senate President Vicente Sotto III advised Bangsamoro officials that a stronger lobbying might be needed in the House of Representatives, where the measure remains pending at the committee level.

The Commission on Elections earlier requested lawmakers to come up with a decision by July so the necessary preparations can be made in case the BARMM polls would push through. (CNN Philippines, Mindanao Examiner)

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