Anxiety grows in BARMM as delay hits seat sharing

IN A HUDDLE Members of the Bangsamoro Parliament thresh out some thorny issues involving the reallocation of district seats during a break in Monday’s session at the Bangsamoro Government Center in Cotabato City. —BANGSAMORO TRANSITION AUTHORITY PUBLICATION OFFICE PHOTO

COTABATO CITY—The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Parliament has sent back to its two committees the measure allocating 32 parliamentary districts in the region, raising fears of further delay that could ultimately affect the upcoming elections in October.

During its session on Monday, members of parliament (MPs) engaged in lengthy discussion about the fate of the measure which was brought to the plenary for second reading following the approval at the committees on local government and amendments, revisions and codification of laws a week earlier.

The MPs eventually took a vote to resolve the issue, with majority deciding on remanding the measure to the committees, which earlier reallocated the seven seats intended for Sulu to the region’s remaining provinces, Cotabato City and its Special Geographical Area.

Tight schedule

MP Naguib Sinarimbo told the Inquirer that among the issues raised was the need to use the updated population figures based on the recently released census results by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

A district, under Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 58, is required to have at least 100,000 people that belong to localities that are contiguous.

Deputy Speaker Lanang Ali Jr., who voted against remanding the measure to the committees, said he was worried this recent delay would eat into the already tight timeframe of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to prepare for the October parliamentary elections, the first for the BARMM since it was created in 2019.

Ali revealed the Comelec had given the parliament until July 31 to enact a measure to reallocate seven district seats originally for Sulu province, which is no longer part of the BARMM, per a decision of the Supreme Court last year.

The Inquirer learned that Speaker Pangalian Balindong set a special session on Aug. 7, although no agenda was set, as yet. This raised fresh speculations the special sessions is meant to hammer the final version of the redistricting measure.

If not done in time, the BARMM risks holding the historic parliamentary election with only 73 of 80 seats contested.

Almost a year after the Supreme Court ruling severing Sulu province from the BARMM, the political shockwaves of the event continue to be felt today and could likely shape the configuration of what is supposed to be the first elected regional parliament in October.

The Comelec had announced it will proceed with the conduct of the BARMM parliamentary elections on Oct. 13, with only 73 seats to be contested, per Minute Resolution No. 25-0738 dated June 17, which the poll body revealed only last week.

On Sept. 9, 2024, in a landmark ruling penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and concurred by 14 other magistrates, the high court affirmed the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) that created the BARMM.

However, the court declared Sulu province as not legally part of the BARMM as majority of the voters there rejected the BOL during the January 2019 plebiscite. Among others, the ruling severed seven of 32 parliamentary district seats in the 80-seat regional parliament. Under the BOL, 40 other seats are to be filled by party representatives based on the proportion they got from the total votes, and eight sectoral representatives.

Temporary vacant

To remedy the situation, the regional legislature had to redo the creation of parliamentary districts in order to reallocate the seven seats.

The need for time to do this were among the reasons for Congress to extend for the second time the institutional life of the BARMM transition government up to Oct. 30 this year, thereby foregoing the parliamentary elections scheduled on May 12, alongside the national and local elections.

According to the Comelec, the number of district representative seats allocated for other provinces within the Bangsamoro region remains unaffected by its minute resolution.

It explained that the seven district representative seats formerly belonging to Sulu are now considered “temporarily vacant” and may be filled subsequently through various means, including presidential appointment, a future ruling by the Supreme Court, or new legislation from either the Bangsamoro parliament or Congress. —WITH A REPORT FROM TAHER G. SOLAIMAN