BARMM parliament member wants 4 districts in Tawi-Tawi, Basilan

A BARMM Parliament member is pushing for the creation of four parliamentary districts each in the provinces of Tawi-Tawi and Basilan. (The Bangsamoro Government Center in Cotabato City Photo from the Facebook page of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao)

MANILA, Philippines — A Bangsamoro Parliament member is pushing for the creation of four parliamentary districts each in the provinces of Tawi-Tawi and Basilan.

Parliament member and Bangsamoro Peoples Party president Amir Mawallil initiated the move amid Parliamentary Bill No. 267, a measure seeking to distribute the 32 districts among the provinces in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (Barmm).

According to Mawallil, under PB No. 267, the two provinces were allocated only three legislative districts despite having more than 400,000 population each, citing a 2020 census by the Philippine Statistics Authority.<

“And our qualification for a parliamentary district should be one district for at least 100,000 people. So based on this standard, there should be four districts each for Tawi-Tawi and Basilan. Dapat lang na madagdagan ang proposal para equally represented ang mga mamamayan sa mga lalawigang ito (it is only fitting to augment the proposal to ensure equal representation for the residents in these provinces),” said Mawallil.

“And Tawi-Tawi and Basilan have ethnic minority populations in dire need of representation. Kahit saan mo ito tingnan, ang proposal natin ay valid at dapat maipasa (no matter how you look at it, our proposal is valid and should be approved),” he added.

Under PB No. 267, the apportionment of the districts is as follows: three in Tawi-Tawi, three in Basilan, eight in Lanao del Sur, seven in Sulu, four in Maguindanao del Norte, four in Maguindanao del Sur, two in Cotabato City, and one in the Special Geographic Area in North Cotabato province.

“District representation is essential in a democracy. Valuable resources such as infrastructure allocations, health and social services, scholarships, livelihood aid, and many more. Four district representatives for Tawi-Tawi and Basilan can do more for the provinces than just three each,” Mawallil pointed out.

“I really hope my proposal is carried. Para ito sa mga mamamayan ng Tawi-Tawi at Basilan para sapat ang bilang ng kanilang kinatawan sa Bangsamoro Parliament (this is for the residents of Tawi-Tawi and Basilan to ensure an adequate number of their representatives in the Bangsamoro Parliament),” he added.

The elections for members of the Bangsamoro Parliament, the lawmaking body of the BARMM, will be conducted in 2025.

Fifty percent of the 80-seat assembly will be filled through the party system, while 32 seats will be allocated to parliamentary districts.

The remaining eight seats will be occupied by sectoral representatives.