BARMM communities want more seats in parliament

File photo of BARMM logo

COTABATO CITY, Maguindanao del Norte, Philippines  —The interim Bangsamoro parliament is challenged to allocate limited seats in the regional legislature equitably amid demands for greater community representation.

A common demand that emerged during the series of public consultations on the proposed creation of parliamentary districts in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is giving them more seats.

The creation of districts is crucial in preparing for the first regional parliament elections next year, alongside the midterm polls.

With nine months before the filing of certificates of candidacy for next year’s midterm and the BARMM’s first regional polls, there is some urgency in passing the proposed measure, filed as Parliament Bill No. 267.

The bill has been presented to the electorate across the BARMM since early January. It was approved on second reading in the Bangsamoro Parliament on Dec. 19, 2023.

It seeks to establish 32 single-member parliamentary districts across the entire Bangsamoro region.

Under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), representatives of parliamentary districts will fill 40 percent of the 80-member legislature, 50 percent for party representatives, and 10 percent for sectoral representatives.

The BOL states that each parliamentary district must meet the 100,000 minimum population requirement. The municipalities composing the district must also be contiguous, compact, and adjacent to each other.

Under the proposed bill, the Basilan will have three districts, Sulu with seven, Tawi-Tawi with three, Lanao del Sur with eight, Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur with four each, Cotabato City with two, and the Special Geographic Area, comprising 63 villages formerly part of Cotabato province, with one.

Aksyon Alerto, a daily radio program of Church-run radio dxMS and Council for Climate and Conflict Action, has featured local officials and representatives of groups and residents in Bangsamoro to raise their issues and concerns on the proposed bill.

“Most of the leaders and people of the 63 villages want two voices in the parliament. As far as BOL’s minimum requirement is concerned, the area is qualified,” Member of Parliament Mohammad Kelie Antao told the Aksyon Alerto program.

“Marawi City is allowed only one representative despite its population of over 220,000. It would be best if we have two voices in the parliament,” said Dayanarra Rasuman, a village official.

Rasuman said having an additional parliament seat for Marawi could help fast-track the long-delayed reconstruction and rehabilitation of the city since the 2017 siege.

“We are appealing for another seat, instead of only three, it would be best for us to have four parliamentary districts if we want equitable representation from Basilan,” provincial board member Nasser Salain said in the radio program.

Tawi-Tawi civil society leader Arlene Sevilla is pushing for more parliamentary districts instead of only three.

Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan, during the public consultation in Jolo, stressed that his province needed more parliamentary seats “for equal representation” since the population requirements are met.

But these are all easier said than done.

“The limitation is apparent in the BOL,” explained Deputy Speaker Omar Yasser Sema, calling on the people to learn to live with the reality that there are only 32 seats for parliamentary district representatives unless Congress amends the BOL.