Plebiscite for new towns in Maguindanao stopped

SPLIT Two new towns have been proposed to be carved out of the 39 villages of Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao del Norte. But the plebiscite for the creation of the municipalities of Datu Sinsuat Balabaran and Sheik Abas Hamza, and Nuling in Sultan Kudarat town, has been stopped by the Supreme Court. —Photo courtesy of Datu Odin Sinsuat LGU

COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines —The Supreme Court has stopped the impending conduct of a plebiscite to create three new towns in Maguindanao del Norte province, saying the laws passed for these contained an unconstitutional provision excluding voters of the mother localities from the political exercise.

The high court ruling was firmed up during its en banc session on Tuesday that tackled the petitions against Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) Nos. 53, 54 and 55 creating the proposed municipalities of Nuling, Datu Sinsuat Balabaran and Sheik Abas Hamza, respectively.

READ: SC stops Comelec from holding plebiscites for 3 new BARMM towns

Under BAA 53, Nuling is to be formed with 19 of Sultan Kudarat town’s 39 villages while Datu Odin Sinsuat town’s 34 villages will be chipped off with 13 forming Balabaran under BAA 54 and 10 comprising Sheik Hamza under BAA 55.

The three measures were passed by the interim parliament of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Dec. 20, 2023, and were signed by interim Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim on Dec. 26.

Last month, the Commission on Elections (Comelec), through Resolution No. 11011, set the plebiscite for the creation of Nuling on Sept. 7, and for Balabaran and Sheik Hamza on Sept. 21 through Resolution No. 11012.

But prior to the setting of the plebiscite schedules, the constitutionality of the measures were challenged before the high court.

Datu Odin Sinsuat Vice Mayor Sajid Sinsuat and two others filed a petition against BAA 54 and BAA 55 on Feb. 15, and Sultan Kudarat Mayor Datu Tucao Mastura and Liga ng mga Barangay president Bai Aliyyah Nadrah Macasindil against BAA 53 on Feb. 29.

In Section 5 of the three measures, the plebiscite is to be held only for qualified voters in the villages constituted as new towns.

“The Court, in a unanimous decision, partially granted the petitions. It declared unconstitutional Section 5 in Bangsamoro Autonomy Act Nos. 53, 54 and 55,” said a news release of the SC Public Information Office (SCPIO). “The Court ruled that qualified voters from both the new and mother municipalities should be included in the plebiscite.”

The court ruling also directed the Comelec “to desist from holding plebiscites on Sept. 7 and 21, 2024, and from performing any and all acts related to the ratification of Bangsamoro Autonomy Act Nos. 53, 54 and 55.”

Compliance

In a Viber message to reporters on Tuesday, Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia said the poll body would “immediately comply” with the Supreme Court order.

The budget being used for preparations for the plebiscite, he said, comes from the BARMM government.

In an advisory issued on Aug. 13, the Comelec said that the printing of official ballots and accountable forms for the Nuling plebiscite started that day at the National Printing Office in Quezon City.

With the plebiscite schedules shot down, the Comelec lost an opportunity for a dry-run of its approach to fostering a secure and credible conduct of the midterm polls next year.

Speaking to reporters in Cagayan de Oro City on Wednesday, Elections Commissioner Aimee Ferolino, who was in-charge of the plebiscite in Sultan Kudarat and Datu Odin Sinsuat, said the Sept. 7 and Sept. 21 plebiscite could have been “a litmus test on how to conduct the elections next year.”

With the high court ruling, “we halted all preparations for the Sept. 7 and Sept. 21 (political) exercises,” Ferolino added.

On Tuesday, hours after the SCPIO announcement, BARMM Cabinet Secretary and spokesperson Mohd Asnin Pendatun said the regional government respected the ruling as it “upholds democracy and the rule of law.”

Preserving boundaries

“While the intent and purpose of the laws were to provide more effective and efficient services to our constituents, we fully understand the important reasons behind the ruling and will abide by it in its entirety Pendatun said.

But he declined to answer questions about whether the BARMM leadership would appeal the ruling.

“The Bangsamoro government has and will always be committed to working within the legal framework of the land and will ensure that all actions moving forward reflect our unwavering dedication to legal processes and democratic principles,” Pendatun said.

Datu Odin Sinsuat Mayor Lester Sinsuat also welcomed the high court decision.

The BARMM Grand Coalition (BGC), a political grouping set to face off with former Moro guerrillas-turned-politicians in 2025, lauded the ruling as “a victor for justice and the supremacy of the rule of law in reconfiguring the political boundaries of local government units in the BARMM.”

BGC said it would “actively support local government units in protecting their current boundaries from being altered for partisan political reasons.”

The attempt to splinter the vote-rich and fastest growing Datu Odin Sinsuat and Sultan Kudarat towns followed the split of Maguindanao into two provinces last year. It is a move widely seen by local leaders as an attempt to cripple their respective political bases in the run-up to the 2025 elections. —with reports from Ryan D. Rosauro and Jerome Aning