MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said that the holding of parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in October remains uncertain as the Supreme Court (SC) has yet to decide on two petitions questioning the validity of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Act (BAA) 77, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said.
Garcia said that the temporary restraining order issued by the court does not grant substantive relief or restore the status quo ante, but merely prevents enforcement of BAA 77.
“The Comelec cannot [categorically] say if there is an election on October 13. [Yes] there is a law (BAA 77) but what elections are we going to hold? What positions are we going to fill up on October 13 because if we continue [with our preparations] that is contempt of Court,” Garcia said over the weekend.
BAA 77, An Act Reconstituting the Parliamentary Districts in the BARMM, mandates the re-allocation of the seven parliamentary districts originally allotted for Sulu as a result of the tribunal’s resolution that excluded Sulu from the autonomous region because it rejected the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in the plebiscite.
BAA 77 was enacted by the BARMM parliament on August 29, 2005. It amended BAA 58, enacted by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) on February 28, 2024, which provides for the creation of parliamentary districts in the BARMM.
Garcia pointed out that under BAA 58, the province of Sulu is still included in the creation of parliamentary districts, while the amendatory BAA 77 provides for the redistribution of the seven seats for Sulu as a result of the court ruling that it is not part of the BARMM.
“What’s the effect of BAA 77? It repealed BAA 58. If it is declared as valid, constitutional and legal, the Comelec will be obliged to implement BAA 77. There should be 80 parliamentary seats in the October 13 BARMM elections, contrary to the early preparations of the Comelec for only 73 seats,” the Comelec chief said.
