A reality by March 2026? (2)

COTABATO CITY—Here in the heartland of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, several civil society friends and colleagues have asked questions on the confusing statements issued by the national Commission on Elections (Comelec) regarding the conduct of the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections (BPE).

One of the many (rhetorical) questions they asked is whether the March 2026 elections will happen as announced by the Comelec last November.

The conduct of the first BPE is crucial for many of the constituents in the region, as they will be electing those deserving of a position in the regular regional parliament, not those who got into their privileged positions as members of the interim parliament due to their connections to the appointing authority. Some members have also used their being relatives of powerful political dynasties in the region to push their appointment papers with the sitting Philippine President.

Consequently, we have a motley group of members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA, or the interim parliament) who are not accountable to their constituents. They serve only at the pleasure of the appointing power in Malacañang. Thus, many of them couldn’t care less if they are not performing their legislative functions well. Some of them are known to have squandered their monthly entitlements, the equivalent of national legislators’ countrywide development fund, known popularly as their share of the pork barrel. Aside from their six-digit monthly salaries, members of Parliament also get from P3 to P4 million as the regional equivalent of the CDF. But they are expected to use this money to conduct public consultations or other activities that can be used to support their proposed legislations or regional resolutions.

A few BTA members, especially from the new crop of appointees, have been so brazen as to display their new acquisition of luxury bags and apparel on social media, like they are walking on a modeling ramp. And yet, during one committee hearing in which I participated, I was quite disappointed that one BTA member could not even engage in meaningful interpellations with the sponsors of a regional bill.

So when the Comelec scheduled the first BPE on Oct. 13, 2025, regional constituents were excited at the prospect of finally putting into office those deserving to be there, in terms of their known capabilities and integrity and their previous indisputable public service records.

But then no elections happened. The Supreme Court ruled in September 2025 that the first BPE could not be held because the law passed by the BTA on the redistricting of voting districts was found to be seriously flawed—it was declared unconstitutional on several counts. One of the reasons is evidence of how avaricious some members of the BTA are, in terms of arranging voting districts on the basis of their political strongholds. Thus, the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 77—the new redistricting law—was filled with gerrymandering considerations, largely because of the political interests of the region’s most powerful political dynasties.

Many of the BTA members are lawyers (that is one argument they use to justify their appointment), but it was surprising that they passed a regional law that allowed for districting arrangements that do not comply with the Constitution, or even national electoral laws.

The Supreme Court also ordered the BTA to come up with a Constitution and Bangsamoro Organic Law-compliant redistricting law by Oct. 30, 2025. Once again, this was not met.

In the latter part of November 2025, the Comelec once raised hopes that the first BPE would be scheduled in March 2026. Through Resolution No. 11181, the Comelec declared that the first BPE would be scheduled on March 30, 2026, even though the BTA had not pass a new Constitution-compliant redistricting law as required by the Supreme Court, even as the year 2025 ended.

As of mid-December 2025, the BTA has so far passed a new redistricting bill. But it has not been approved as a Bangsamoro Autonomy Act.

On Dec. 23, 2025, the Comelec announced that it is suspending the conduct of the filing of certificates of candidacy for the first BPE scheduled in March 2026. And it was mainly because of the failure of the BTA to pass the new redistricting law at the end of 2025.

So where do we go from here? We are seeing that some sectors in the regional government, especially the appointed ones, are setting their sights on an extended term until the next presidential election in 2028. This is a brazen manifestation of their greed for power and privilege despite their lack of qualifications to sit in their respective posts.

That makes us worry that the March 2026 BPE won’t be a reality—once again.

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