By MA. ANGELICA GARCIA, GMA News
The Senate on Monday ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed measure seeking to reset the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Voting 21-2, senators approved the bicameral report on the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill No. 2214 and House Bill No. 10121, which seeks to move the date of the BARMM parliamentary and regional elections from May 2022 to May 2025 and synchronize it with the next midterm elections.
Under the reconciled version, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) shall continue as the interim government in the Bangsamoro Region. The President may appoint the 80 new interim members of the BTA who shall serve up to June 30, 2025 or until their successors shall have been elected and qualified.
SB 2214 and HB 10121 will amend Section 13, Article XVI of Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) of 2018.
Senator Francis Tolentino, chair of the Senate panel in the bicameral conference committee, said the reconciled version of the Senate and House versions recognized two important considerations—the constitutionally granted power of the President to appoint and the right of the people of the Bangsamoro region to have competent and reliable leaders.
Tolentino stressed that in reconciling the disagreeing provisions of SB 2214 and HB 10121, the conferees of the bicameral panel ensured that the passage of this legislative measure “will not unduly curtail” the power of the President to appoint under the 1987 Constitution.
He underscored the need to extend the BARMM transition period to implement the political and normalization efforts embodied in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) since the COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges to the execution of the priority programs and projects of the Bangsamoro government.—LDF, GMA News
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