MANILA: Lawmakers in the Philippine Congress have introduced a bill proposing to delay the first elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to 2026. The elections, initially scheduled for May next year following a 2019 referendum on autonomy, are now being considered for postponement to May 11, 2026.

According to Anadolu Agency, the bill was filed by House Speaker Martin Romualdez alongside other representatives on Tuesday and made public on Wednesday. A similar proposal has also been put forward in the Senate by Senate President Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero. Should both chambers of parliament approve the bill, it will be forwarded to the president for approval.

This would mark the second delay of elections in the southern region, as previously scheduled polls in 2022 were postponed to 2025 by the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The ongoing electoral adjustments come after a significant historical backdrop of nearly sixty years of conflict between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and
the Philippine army in Mindanao. A pivotal cease-fire agreement was reached in 2012.

The January 2019 referendum endorsed the “Bangsamoro Organic Law,” leading to the establishment of the “Bangsamoro Transition Authority.” Subsequently, Haji Murad Ebrahim was appointed and sworn in by then-President Rodrigo Duterte as the interim chief minister of the newly formed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in February 2019.