BARMM parliament seeks new schedule to pass districting measure

COTABATO CITY—The parliament in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is seeking another schedule to have a crack at the pending measure to create 32 parliamentary districts, a crucial requirement to ensure that its thrice-postponed regional elections will finally push through.

In a letter to Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua dated Dec. 26, 2025, a copy of which the Inquirer obtained recently, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Yacob begged off convening a special session on Dec. 29, which was declared a public holiday.

Last Dec. 22, four days after the parliament adjourned for the Yuletide break on Dec. 18, Macacua called the regional legislature to a special session on Dec. 29, and if needed, up to Dec. 31, in the hope of hammering the districting measure.

Special session

But Yacob said such a session is not viable as “several (members) of Parliament and essential support staff are expected to be unavailable during this period” hence limiting the body’s ability to carry out “meaningful deliberation on an important measure.”

Yacob had asked Macacua to explore other dates for a special session in January “when regular government operations resume and members of Parliament and Secretariat personnel will be available.”

At present, the BARMM has no parliamentary districts from which 40 percent of the 80-member regional legislature will be elected, adding to the 40 party representatives and eight sectoral representatives.

Its two earlier districting laws, Bangsamoro Autonomy Act Nos. 58 and 77 were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in a ruling issued on Sept. 30, 2025.

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The ruling reset the regional polls for a third time.

While the high court directed the parliament to legislate a new districting law by Oct. 31, it lacked the time to comply. It then tried to meet the Nov. 30 deadline set by the Commission on Elections but also failed.

Macacua had vowed to have the measure passed by mid-December, and then by year-end, to no avail, leaving hanging the question of when the first regional parliamentary elections could take place.