The entrance of the BARMM regional headquarters (FILE PHOTO)
COTABATO CITY, Maguindanao del Norte, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is getting ready to administer the plebiscite for the creation of eight new towns within the 63-Muslim dominated villages that made up the Special Geographic Area (SGA) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia, speaking to reporters in Isulan town of Sultan Kudarat province during the launching of the nationwide voter’s education for 2025 on Feb. 8, said preparations for the plebiscite set on April 13 this year were underway.
“This (plebiscite) is part of our preparation for the first regional parliamentary elections simultaneous with the national and local elections in May next year,” Garcia said.
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Residents of these villages originally came from six towns in Cotabato province who voted to be included in BARMM during a plebiscite in 2019 that also ratified the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
Excited
“The people are excited for the plebiscite on April 13 in 63 villages of Cotabato province now called BARMM’s SGA,” Bangsamoro Member of Parliament Mohammad Kelie Antao said on Tuesday.
Antao said he was confident that residents in the SGA would approve the creation of the new towns, a sentiment shared by Lawyer Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba, BARMM local government minister.
Antao said the Comelec was still waiting for the P80 million funds intended for the plebiscite to ratify the law creating eight municipalities out of 63 SGA barangays.
As of Tuesday, Comelec has registered 200,000 voters in the SGA villages, or a day after the continuing registration of new voters opened on Monday, with number of registrants still expected to increase.
Once the law is ratified, BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim will appoint officers-in-charge and other officials for the eight new towns, to be named Pahamuddin, Kadayangan, Nabalawag, Tugunan, Ligawasan, Malidegao, Old Kaabakan, and Kapalawan.