OZAMIZ CITY—Officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are preparing to appeal a recent decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to prevent voters from 63 villages of Cotabato province from electing local leaders during the May 9 elections.
In Minute Resolution No. 21-0953, the Comelec said that pending a determination of which local government unit the 63 villages belonged to, its registered voters “may only be allowed to vote for national positions, particularly, for the positions of President, Vice President, Senator(s) and Party-List Representatives …”
The system of manual voting used for local absentee voting will be implemented in these villages, according to the Comelec resolution.
From 6 towns
The poll body came up with a decision on the matter during its regular en banc meeting on Sept. 15, 2021, but it was released only on Jan. 3.
BARMM Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said the Comelec decision disenfranchised the voters in the 63 villages, hence their appeal to recall the resolution.
The 63 villages voted to be part of the BARMM during the 2019 plebiscite to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the autonomous region’s charter. But in the 2019 midterm elections, voters there still chose the elective local officials of their mother towns.
These villages are from the towns of Pikit (22), Midsayap (13), Pigcawayan (12), Carmen (7), Kabacan (7) and Aleosan (2). In the 2020 Census of Population, these constituted a population of 215,433, with an estimated voter base of about 100,000.
At present, these villages are organized as a Special Geographic Area of the BARMM with development actions overseen by a coordinating office. The villages have also been included in the public spending program of the BARMM.
Sinarimbo noted that even as the 63 villages became part of the BARMM, these continue to be part of Cotabato province and their respective mother towns in the computation of internal revenue allotment from the national government.
He said voters there deserved to be represented and their voices heard in these governance units.
BARMM officials have planned to constitute the 63 villages into three or four municipalities although no measure has yet been filed in the Bangsamoro parliament for such purpose. —RYAN D. ROSAURO AND TAHER G. SOLAIMAN