SC postpones BARMM polls, asks BTA to craft new law on districts
The elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is postponed, yet again, this time upon the order of the Supreme Court which declared as unconstitutional two regional laws that created parliamentary districts from where 32 of 80 members of the regional legislature will be elected.
In a decision made public on Wednesday, the high court gave the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim regional government, until Oct. 30 to determine the parliamentary districts for the region’s first regular elections, in “strict compliance with the priorities and requirements provided in the Bangsamoro Organic Law, (BOL) as well as the criteria laid down in this decision.”
The court also directed the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to “promptly proceed” with its preparations and conduct elections not later than March 31, 2026.
In postponing the BARMM elections, the high tribunal cited the lack of a valid districting law, as well as practical concerns to hold the polls as scheduled on Oct. 13, including the preparation needed to train poll workers, deploy and install internet connectivity, and conduct sectoral assemblies.
‘Illegal’
“More importantly, enforcing Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 77 with less than a month before the [elections] would cause massive confusion among the more than 2.25 million registered voters across BARMM’s 105 municipalities and three cities, as the redistricting will heavily impact precinct assignments,” the Supreme Court said.
“Short of sufficient time, respondent Comelec cannot be reasonably expected to fulfill its purpose to ensure a free, orderly, peaceful and credible elections,” it added.
In response to the decision of the Supreme Court, Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia said the commission would wait for the action of the Bangsamoro parliament.
“Now, it is very clear that we have no law to enforce. It’s back to zero for Comelec. But in the meantime, the ball is in the hands of the Bangsamoro Parliament. We shall be waiting for their action and compliance,” Garcia said in a Viber message.
Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Ting, at a briefing on Wednesday, said the high court declared the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Redistricting Act of 2025, or BAA 77, illegal for violating Section 5 of the Voter’s Registration Act, which bars any change in precincts once the election period has started.
BAA 77 was passed on Aug. 19, five days after the election period in the BARMM started on Aug. 14.
The law was in accordance with the 2024 ruling of the Supreme Court in Province of Sulu v. Medialdea (G.R. No. 242255), in which the justices held that Sulu was not part of the BARMM because majority of its voters rejected the BOL during a 2019 referendum.
“BAA77 is also void for violating the Bangsamoro Organic Law’s requirement that each district should comprise adjacent and adjoining areas as far as practicable. Some local government units in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and Cotabato City were assigned to different districts that were neither contiguous nor adjacent,” Ting said, quoting the decision.
The high tribunal noted that BAA 77’s nullification would not revive an earlier law, Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 58, or the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Districts Act of 2024, which still includes Sulu in its parliamentary districts.
“Since BAA 58 is based on an outdated framework following the removal of Sulu from BARMM, it cannot be reinstated,” the Supreme Court said, as it also declared BAA 58 void.
The voting in the case was 11-3-1, with 11 justices voting for the ponencia and three concurring in the nullification of BAA 77 but dissented with the finding that BAA 58 was invalid.
“Acting Chief Justice Marvic Leonen and Associate Justices Ricardo Rosario and Antonio Kho Jr. were of the opinion that there was sufficient legal basis for the election to continue,” Ting said.
Assurance
BARMM Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, however, assured the people the elections would still push through even at a later date.
“It is reset,” he told reporters in Davao City after he received information on the Supreme Court’s decision.
Macacua urged people of the Bangsamoro to “wait for the next actions.”
“If this is true that the elections are postponed, just wait for further actions from Comelec and from the BARMM, because if that’s the order of the Supreme Court that BARMM will have to craft another redistricting law, then BARMM will do it,” he said.
