By Froilan Gallardo
Special Correspondent

TOP officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm), as well as civil society leaders, hailed the Philippine Senate decision to extend the parliamentary elections from 2022 to 2025.

Barmm Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim said the Senate passage of SB No. 2214 will give ample time for the Bangsamoro Transition Authority to ”finish the job” and assure the next regional officials can work “under a system that befits the realities of the Bangsamoro.”

“The extension for three more years gives us a better chance for healing, for rebuilding, and for setting the future of the Bangsamoro,” Ebrahim said in a statement.

Ebrahim thanked the Senate leaders Vicente Sotto, Juan Miguel Zubiri, and others for believing in the Bangsamoro cause.

Barmm Minister for Interior and Local Government Naguid Sinarimbo called the Senate approval of SB. No. 2214 “a historic move.”

Sinarimbo said the BTA could now iron out major issues like the management of mineral and natural resources.

“Like for example the Lake Lanao. Under the Cab Agreement, we are given a 50-50 percent share. The BTA can now institutionalize this,” Sinarimbo said.

The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed in 2014. Among its key features is the creation of the Bangsamoro region out of the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The House will now pass its own version of the extension, House Bill No. 10121 before this will be brought to President Rodrigo Duterte for signing.

Lawyer Mary Ann Arnado, secretary-general of the peace advocacy group Mindanao People’s Caucus, also hailed the Senate but appealed to the house to make haste in passing its own version.

“With 23 days remaining before the filing of the candidacy for May 2022, the extension bill is indeed running out of time,” Armado said.

BTA parliament member Zia Alonto Adiong also expressed his gratitude to the Philippine Senators.

“The Senate did not simply extend the transition period, it has also secure the gains of the peace process,” Adiong said.