Bangsamoro Parliament fails to enact new redistricting law
COTABATO CITY—Despite its earlier commitment to pass the region’s redistricting bill before Dec. 31 to comply with the ruling of the Supreme Court, the Bangsamoro parliament ended its regular session on Dec. 18 without passing the bill crucial for the region’s first elections slated for March 2026.
The media office of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) said the 80-member body, which earlier promised to pass the new redistricting law before the year ends, ended its session on Thursday, for the holiday break and will resume its regular session in January next year.
The six redistricting bills were already consolidated into BTA bill No. 415 and adopted by the committees on rules and local government, said Member of Parliament (MP) Nabil Tan, who, on Dec. 3, said the BTA was working hard to enact the redistricting law before the year ends.
BTA bill No. 415, which provides for 32 single-member parliamentary districts and sets the stage for the region’s historic parliamentary polls on March 30 next year, has been forwarded to the BTA plenary for deliberation, MP Naguib Sinarimbo said.
“As far as the joint committee is concerned, we want to beat the deadline, that is enact a law before Dec. 31,” Sinarimbo added.
The BTA media office added that the MPs were “determined to pass a legally sound and fair” redistricting law, since it was critical to ensure that the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections should proceed without legal challenges.
Legal risks
But even before its passage, the Bangsamoro Attorney General’s Office (Bago) had released a legal opinion that pointed to legal risks in enacting the law within the prohibited period, Sinarimbo said.
Bago said there was a probability that the new redistricting law passed at this time would be declared invalid since it would already be within the 120-day period before the March 30 elections next year, when it would already be unlawful to alter the boundaries of precincts.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) had earlier set March 30 next year as the date for the first elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
This was the third time that the regional polls had been reset. Initially set for May 2022, it was moved to May 2025 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was rescheduled to Oct. 13 after the high court excluded Sulu province from the BARMM, which required the reallocation of its seven seats. However, the high tribunal invalidated the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Redistricting Act of 2025 (BAA No. 77) signed last August and directed the BTA to enact a new law by the end of November, with the elections then moved to not later than March 31, 20226.
Sinarimbo said Bago cited that one of the reasons the high court nullified BAA 77 was because it was enacted into law within the 120-day prohibited period before the supposed Oct. 13 parliamentary elections.
“Bago said (the same experience) would be repeated if the bill is passed into law within the 120-day prohibited period,” Sinarimbo said.
Schedule
On Nov. 25, with still no new redistricting law enacted by the Bangsamoro parliament, the Comelec nevertheless set the election date on March 30 next year.
The Comelec, through Resolution No. 11181, set the filing of certificates of candidacies from Jan. 5 to Jan. 9 next year; the election period from Jan. 29 until April 14, 2026; and the campaign period from Feb. 12 to March 28.
Based on this schedule, the 120-day prohibited period already started on Nov. 30 this year, the Bago noted.
To date, there is also no bill that has been filed before Congress setting the new date of the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary elections.
