Debate on fate of BARMM parliamentary polls deepens

BARMM Regional Headquarters —File photo

COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — Even after leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had pushed for the holding of parliamentary elections as scheduled next year, the debate has deepened on the fate of the political exercise in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad Matabalao told reporters on Tuesday that while he respected the position of MILF leaders, he still endorsed the measures pending before the Senate and the House of Representatives resetting the regional polls from May 11, 2025, to May 12, 2026.

“I can speak for the Cotabato City chapter of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP),” Matabalao said.

READ: MILF wants BARMM polls in 2025

UBJP, the political arm of the MILF, is led by MILF chief Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim who is also the BARMM interim chief minister. Ebrahim’s view on the issue, as MILF leader, is opposite that of the BARMM’s interim parliament of which he is a member.

The parliament earlier passed a resolution urging Congress to reset the regional polls to 2028 to give it time to make the necessary legal adjustments to deal with, among others, the Supreme Court decision removing Sulu province from the BARMM. The province had been allocated seven seats in the regional legislature representing parliamentary districts.

On Sept. 9, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which established the BARMM as a political entity and defined its basic governmental structure, but ruled that Sulu was not part of the region after the province voted against the measure’s ratification.

Enforced in full

The decision, penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and concurred in by 14 other justices, said the BOL “deprived the constituent units of their local autonomy, which ironically is what the legislation champions” and “illegally included” Sulu in the autonomous region.

The ruling, according to Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Ting on Tuesday, must be enforced in full and take effect immediately, even with the pending appeals.

In a Viber message to reporters, Ting said the BARMM elections set for next year should still proceed, citing Macalintal v. Comelec (G.R. No. 263590), which declared unconstitutional the law postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

“Immediately executory means that the decision should be fully implemented despite the pending motion for reconsideration. There would be no reason for the Court to say it was immediately executory if it intended otherwise,” Ting said.

“The Court, consistent with its prior rulings, issued the order making the decision immediately executory knowing that the election cannot be postponed,” she said.

Members of parliament Amir Mawallil and Rasol Mitmug Jr. on Tuesday supported moves to reset the regional polls to 2026, instead of 2028, if only to give the parliament time to address the exit of Sulu.

Also on Tuesday, 12 of 24 mayors of Maguindanao del Sur province and nine of 11 mayors of Maguindanao del Norte province signed separate resolutions supporting the measures filed by Senate President Francis Escudero and Speaker Martin Romualdez that reset the regional polls to 2026.

In Basilan, Gov. Hadjiman Hataman-Salliman and 10 of 12 mayors in the province endorsed the proposals of Escudero and Romualdez.

No valid reason

But two nongovernment organizations working on issues in the BARMM said the elections must proceed on schedule as doing otherwise runs roughshod with the Constitution and existing laws.

A joint statement by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance and the Climate and Conflict Action said they saw “no legitimate or valid reason behind the proposal to postpone the Bangsamoro regional election…”

“We call on the House of Representatives and the Senate to not rush the passage of the bill postponing the regional elections. Already, the MILF as well as local officials and civil society organizations have expressed opposition to the measure,” the groups said.

“Forcing its passage will have grave implications to the peace process and security of the region,” they added.

The groups debunked the supposed “legal imperative” to reallocate the seven parliamentary district seats of Sulu.

“The Sulu decision is not yet final and until the Supreme Court decides with finality the pending motions for reconsideration, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority is not in a position to pass any legislation to address legal issues around the Sulu ruling,” they said.

“Postponing the elections based on false assumptions does not justify suppressing the right of suffrage of BARMM’s 2.3 million voters,” they added.

Commission on Elections Chair George Erwin Garcia had asked leaders of Congress to decide on the fate of the regional polls before Dec. 13, when the poll body finalizes the ballots to be printed for next year’s national and local elections.