MANILA, Philippines —The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has suspended all preparations for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) first parliamentary election.
The move is in compliance with the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order (TRO) on the implementation of Bangsamoro Autonomous Act (BAA) 77, reallocating the seven parliamentary seats originally assigned to the province of Sulu.
“The Comelec en banc decided, in compliance with the TRO issued by the High Court yesterday to suspend all preparations related to the conduct of the [BARMM] election on October 13, effective today,” Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Wednesday.
The high tribunal issued the TRO on Tuesday, September 16, during its special session pending resolution of two petitions challenging BAA 77.
With the issuance of the TRO, the Comelec is effectively barred from conducting election activities until further orders from the high court.
During the Commission en banc’s regular session on Wednesday, Garcia said that they also adopted the recommendations of the Bangsamoro Study Group and Comelec Law Department to pause the enforcement of the August 27, 2025 Minute Resolution, suspend preparations for district, sectoral, and party representative elections in the BARMM, and direct the Law Department to coordinate with the Office of the Solicitor General for the filing of the Commission’s “extremely urgent manifestation” in compliance to the TRO issued by the Court.
The August 25 Minute Resolution refers to the Comelec’s decision to suspend the implementation of the redistricting law because at that time the BARMM parliament had not yet enacted law BAA 77.
