The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government building is located in Cotabato City. (File photo by BONG SARMIENTO / Inquirer Mindanao)
ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Philippines — The governors of the five Bangsamoro provinces questioned some provisions of the election code drafted by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).
They said the powers bestowed on the Bangsamoro Election Office (BEO exceeded the power given to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) by the Constitution.
The governors are Abdusakur M. Tan of Sulu, Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. of Lanao del Sur, Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu of Maguindanao, Ysmael I. Sali of Tawi-Tawi, and Hadjiman Hataman-Salliman of Basilan.
In a position paper presented during the second public consultation here of BTA Bill 29, they asked the BTA to reconsider some of the provisions of the proposed code.
Under the bill – the proposed Bangsamoro Electoral Code of 2022 — the BEO enjoys not only administrative power, which is the only power allowed by the Bangsamoro Organic Law, but also quasi-judicial, judicial, quasi-executive, and quasi-legislative powers.
This includes the power to ask for a supplemental budget from the Bangsamoro Parliament as provided and hear all pre-proclamation controversies, among others.
The body can also cause the dissolution of political parties, or cause the cancellation of nominations and certificates of candidacies. It can hear and decide petitions for clustering of precincts, hear and decide election violations, and even prosecute election offenses and delist registered voters.
The five governors want those powers to be taken out from the electoral code since they violate the Constitution.
“The authority of the BEO must be limited only to the delegated administrative functions by Comelec,” they said in their position paper.
The governors also cited Article IX-C Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution, which give Comelec the “exclusive original jurisdiction over all contests relating to election returns and qualifications of all elective, regional, provincial and city officials.”
“The BTA and even Comelec cannot validly delegate the Comelec’s exclusive jurisdiction over electoral contests to the BEO or to the so-called Bangsamoro Parliament Electoral Tribunal without violating the Constitution,” the paper said.
Manny Muarip, the administrator of Basilan, who presented the position paper during the consultation, said that the electoral code must be legislated within the framework of the 1987 Constitution, the Bangsamoro Organic Law, and national election laws.
“National laws must prevail over regional laws, and uphold the independence and powers of the Comelec,” Muarip said.