KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 12 March) — Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU), has called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to intensify preparations for the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections after both chambers of Congress have set the same date for the historic occasion.

The Senate and the House separately approved measures setting the date of the regional elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on September 14.

“With the approval of the House of Representatives and the Senate of their respective bills setting the date of the BARMM polls, the COMELEC can now focus on the equally important task of informing the people on the guidelines of the elections,” Galvez said in a statement issued Wednesday evening.

He also urged the poll body to lay the groundwork that will ensure that the highly-anticipated political exercise in the BARMM will be held in a peaceful, orderly and credible manner.

Galvez noted that since the BARMM’s creation seven years ago, the region “has gone through a remarkable transformation that has turned it from a once conflict-ridden area into a show window of peace and development.”

“We believe that the upcoming regional elections will allow the region to sustain and build on the gains that have been achieved, while enabling its leadership to implement policies that will bring greater inclusivity, prosperity, and stability,” he said.

Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia earlier stated that the poll body will follow the date set by the law regarding the holding of the Bangsamoro elections.

Last Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill 8220, which provides the date of the first regular elections for the Bangsamoro government on the second Monday (14th) of September 2026.

The elected officials shall assume office noon of October 30, 2026 until noon of June 30, 2031, the bill said.

For the purpose of synchronizing the BARMM parliamentary elections with the national and local elections, the regular elections for the Bangsamoro government shall be held on the second Monday of May 2031 and every three years thereafter. Beginning 2031, the elected officials shall assume office at noon of June 30 following their election, HB 8220 stated.

The principal author of HB 8220 is Lanao del Sur (1st District) Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong.

Similar provisions were approved earlier this month by the Upper House through Senate Bill 1823, with Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri as the principal author.

Both Adiong and Zubiri are Mindanawons.

Galvez lauded the Senate and the House of Representatives for setting the date for the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro region.

Both chambers will still meet for a bilateral session to deliberate on the final form of the bill that will officially set the date of the BARMM elections, he said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will have to sign the measure for its enactment into law.

While the poll watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) lauded the September 2026 conduct of the first parliamentary elections in the BARMM, it disagreed with the holding of the succeeding elections in May 2031.

The law and existing jurisprudence points that the next conduct of BARMM parliamentary elections should be synchronized with the national and local elections on the 2nd Monday of May 2028, LENTE said in an earlier statement.

This is consistent with the constitutional principle of periodic elections and upholds the synchronization of the Bangsamoro elections with the national and local elections, it added. 

Proposals to hold the next elections in 2031 depart from this principle and risk further disrupting the regular electoral cycle in the region, LENTE said.

The first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections should have been held on May 9, 2022 but this was reset to May 12, 2025 and again reset to October 13, 2025 but did not push through because of the Supreme Court ruling declaring two previous districting laws — Bangsamoro Autonomy Acts 58 and 77 — unconstitutional. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)