Comelec: Preparations ongoing for BARMM polls
Commission on Elections chairman George Garcia said Friday that preparations proceed as planned for the first ever parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Garcia told GMA News Online that it is not for the poll body to decide whether or not the BARMM polls would push through on October 13, 2025.
'Kami po sa Comelec ay walang hinto ang paghahanda sa BARMM parliamentary elections. Tuloy na tuloy po ito kung kami ang tatanungin. Wala po sa amin ang desisyon tungkol sa pagpapaliban nito,' Garcia said.
(We at the Comelec do not stop preparing for the BARMM parliamentary elections. This will continue, if we are asked. The decision whether to postpone it or not is not ours to make.)
Based on Comelec Resolution No. 11149, the election period for the BARMM polls will begin on August 14 and last until October 28. A gun ban will also be implemented throughout this period.
The campaign period, meanwhile, will be from August 28 to October 11.
Campaigning will be prohibited in the region starting election eve or on October 12, until election day on October 13. There will also be a liquor ban enforced in these two days.
Once the election period is over, candidates will be given until November 12 to file their Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE).
In February, Garcia announced that President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. signed into law the measure postponing the BARMM parliamentary elections from May to October this year.
It was first postponed from May 2022 to May 2025 under Republic Act 11593.
Marcos has certified as urgent the bill postponing the BARMM elections, according to Malacañang. —AOL, GMA Integrated News
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