DAVAO CITY (MindaNews /25 September) – The minimum age requirement to be elected Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is 25 years old, according to the proposed Bangsamoro Electoral Code of 2022 which prescribes the “structural, functional and procedural principles” in the election of BARMM officials.
The proposed code also aims to “secure honest, credible, just and free elections thereby allowing democratic political participation and reflecting the genuine will of the electorate.”
It also provides that in any matter requiring the construction and interpretation of the code, “the parliamentary ministerial nature of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Government, insofar as relevant, shall always be taken into consideration.”
The BARMM is the country’s lone autonomous region and the lone region which has a parliamentary system within our Presidential system of government.
The first regular election for the 80-member Bangsamoro Parliament is on May 12, 2025.
According to the 62-page proposed electoral code, the Chief Minister, who is elected by a majority vote of the 80 elected Members of Parliament (MPs) on the first day of the regular session, shall serve a term of three years but not more than three consecutive terms, the same as governors, mayors, congressional district representatives and provincial, city and municipal legislators.
If no MP obtains the majority to be elected Chief Minister in the first round of voting, a runoff election shall be conducted with the MPs electing the Chief Minister from the two candidates who obtained the highest number of votes cast in the first round.
The Chief Minister nominates two Deputy Chief Ministers who shall be elected by the MPs.
The proposed code states that the Bangsamoro region shall have three sub-regions: South Western Mindanao, North Central Mindanao, and South Central Mindanao and to ensure representation of all subregions, the two Deputy Chief Ministers shall come from the two subregions different from the Chief Minister’s region.
The proposed electoral code also provides that in case of a vote of no confidence against the Government of the Day by at least two thirds of all the MPs, the Chief Minister shall, within 72 hours, advise the Wali to dissolve the Parliament and call for a new parliamentary election. The election for a new Parliament shall be held not later than 120 days from the date of dissolution.”
The minimum age requirement that is being proposed for Chief Minister is the same as the requirement for congressional representatives and for the Bangsamoro MPs. Only the youth representative has a different age requirement: 18 to 25 years old.
Yearend 2022 or 1st quarter 2023
The proposed Electoral Code (Bill No. 29) and Local Governance Code (Bill No. 30) were filed by the Cabinet at the Bangsamoro Parliament on September 19 and were passed on first reading, along with 14 other bills. The Local Government Code, filed in July 2020, was re-filed from the previous Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA1) Parliament while this is the first filing of the proposed Bangsamoro Electoral Code of 2022.
Printed drafts of these two proposed codes were presented by Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim as a birthday present to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. during the inaugural session of the 80-member BTA Parliament on September 15 in Cotabato City.
Ebrahim promised these priority codes would be passed by yearend or by first quarter next year.
The Commission on Elections, through the Bangsamoro Electoral Office, shall promulgate rules and regulations for the conduct of the elections, enforce and administer them pursuant to national laws, the Organic Law for the BARMM or Republic Act 11054, and the Bangsamoro Electoral Code.
80-member Parliament
The Bangsamoro Parliament consists of 40 party representatives, 32 single district representatives and eight sectoral representatives and reserved seats.
Party representatives are elected through a system of proportional representation based on the Bangsamoro territorial jurisdiction.
The BTA will determine the allocation of the 32 district seats but is mandated by law to “ensure equitable representation in the Parliament.”
MPs from single member parliamentary districts shall be elected through direct plurality vote by the registered voters in these districts.
For redistricting, parliamentary districts, according to the proposed code, shall be apportioned based on population and geographical area, with each district comprising, “as far as practicable, contiguous, compact, and adjacent territorial jurisdiction” with a population of at least 100,000.
For the eight reserved seats and sectoral representatives, two each are reserved for non-Moro indigenous peoples and for settler communities, while women, youth, traditional leaders, and the Ulama shall have one sectoral seat each.
RA 11054 provides that the Parliament “shall determine the manner of election of the reserved seats and sectoral representatives.”
According to the proposed code, sectoral representatives shall nominate their representative, for selection by Parliament and appointment by the Chief Minister.
“The selection of sectoral representatives shall be by nomination by the Parliament through the Speaker from among the members of registered sectoral organizations and appointment by the Chief Minister.”
“The Chief Minister shall, in the appointment of sectoral representatives, take into consideration the track record of advocacy of nominees for the sector they represent,” the proposed code states.
Only regional sectoral parties accredited by the Bangsamoro Electoral Office (BEO) can participate in the sectoral representative elections but the regional sectoral representative for Indigenous Peoples shall be certified by the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs; for Women by the Bangsamoro Women Commission; for the Youth by the Bangsamoro Youth Commission and Ulama by the Regional Darul Ifta.
The proposed code also states that the reserved seats for non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIIP) such as Teduray, Lambangian, Dulangan Manobo, B’laan, and Higaonon shall adhere to their customary laws and indigenous processes. Determining the NMIP representatives “shall be based on plurality of votes in the Parliamentary Election conducted for the purpose” and the first two nominees with the highest number of votes will be the representatives.
Political parties and conventions
According to RA 11054, the number of seats allocated for each political party shall be based proportionately on the percentage of votes obtained by each political party as against the total votes cast in the BARMM for the election of party representatives.
The proposed code stresses that “political party is the essence of a parliamentary democracy” as it provides for a mechanism “where people can directly participate in the affairs of the government through a chain of delegation to the party. The stronger the political party in a parliamentary democracy is, the robust accountability and good governance are.”
According to the proposed code, political parties in the BARMM may be established by at least 10,000 BARMM voters “who have given their consent for the establishment of only one political party through affixing their signatures in a duly notarized form” with membership distributed in the provinces and cities. It also states that every political party “shall have established provincial and city chapters in all provinces and cities of BARMM respectively, and municipal chapters in majority of the municipalities comprising each province.”
The proposed code states that one year immediately before a parliamentary and national and local elections, “a party must hold a convention for purposes of selecting their nominees in the different elective posts.”
Any member who seeks nomination must, according to the proposed code, submit to the Executive Committee his/her intent in writing, 45 days prior to the scheduled convention, citing reasons for seeking nomination. A member who fails to submit a written intent is disqualified from being nominated during the party convention.
Under this proposed code, party conventions must be held a year before the election or by May 12, 2024 for the May 12, 2025 election. But 45 days before the party convention, a member who seeks nomination must submit a written intent to be nominated.
The filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) in the national and local elections is October of the year prior to the elections, or October 2024 for the May 2025 mid-term elections.
A registered political party has to submit to the BEO before the election a manifestation of intent to participate in the parliamentary election of party representatives, with a list of nominees ranked from one to 40, from which party representatives shall be chosen in case they obtain the required number of votes. No person shall be nominated in more than one list.
The proposed code states that at least 10% of the 40 nominees “shall, preferably, be qualified party members who are women.” This is in addition to the guaranteed one sectoral seat for women in the BTA.
The seats for party representatives shall be filled according to the number of valid votes obtained by the parties in the parliamentary election but only the parties receiving at least four percent (4%) of the total valid votes cast for the party system elections shall be entitled to one guaranteed seat each.
Parties entitled to guaranteed seats shall be ranked from highest to lowest to determine additional seats, in proportion to its total number of votes, but the additional seats should not exceed 50% of the total membership of the Parliament.
Regional political parties may also field candidates in the parliamentary district elections.
Bangsamoro Electoral Office
The proposed Code provides that the Bangsamoro Electoral Office (BEO) as established by the COMELEC “with prior approval from the latter,” is “enhanced” to be composed of a Chief Electoral Officer as presiding officer and two electoral officers as members, and shall have six bureaus: Party Representation Bureau (PRB); Constituency Representation Bureau (CRB); Election Assessors Bureau (EAB); Provincial Operations Bureau (POB); National and Local Elections Bureau (NLEB); and Administration and Finance Bureau (AFB).
Notwithstanding the provisions enhancing the BEO, the office “shall be under the control and supervision of the Commission on Elections”
The BEO is to serve as the “central body of the BARMM in the supervision of all elections therein, with delegated powers from the Commission on Elections en banc to ensure compliance of laws and other pertinent rules of the Commission taking cognizance of the essence of parliamentarism as a tool of good governance and development.”
The BEO’s budget “shall be part of the yearly budget of Commission on Elections without prejudice to a supplemental budget from the parliament to augment its operational expenses.”
There will also be an electoral tribunal within Parliament that will be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of the MPs.
The electoral tribunal will be composed of the chief electoral officer, two retired judges, and six MPs.
Local Governance Code
According to the proposed electoral code, the qualifications for elective provincial, city, and municipal officials shall be those provided for in the Bangsamoro Local Government Code” (BLGC) and the election of officials whose positions are provided for by the BLGC shall be held throughout the Bangsamoro region in the manner prescribed by the Bangsamoro Electoral Code.
Copies of the proposed BLGC and electoral code and other bills filed have yet to be uploaded in the BTA’s website as of 6 p.m. on Sunday. MindaNews was able to obtain a copy of the proposed electoral code from sources but have yet to receive a copy of the proposed BLGC.
Under RA 11054, the authority of the Bangsamoro Government to regulate the affairs of its constituent local government units shall be guaranteed in accordance with the Organic Law and the BLGC without diminishing the privileges already enjoyed by local government units under RA 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991.
The Bangsamoro Parliament may “create, divide, merge, abolish, or substantially alter boundaries of municipalities or barangays” but in the creation of legislative districts, “the Bangsamoro Government shall cooperate and coordinate with the National Government through the Philippine Congress – Bangsamoro Parliament Forum to prioritize the deliberations on the creation of a legislative district.”
The proposed Local Governance Code was filed in the previous BTA (2019 to 2022).
Aside from these two priority codes, the following Cabinet bills have been refiled: the proposed Bangsamoro Regional Institute for Higher Islamic Studies Act of 2022; Rights of Internally Displaced Persons of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region Act; Charter of the Bangsamoro Energy Development Corporation; Charter of the Bangsamoro Development Corporation; Hashim and Mimbantas Memorial Site; Bangsamoro Science High School Act of 2022; Bangsamoro Agriculture and Fisheries Training Institute Act; declaring May 2 as Battle of Bayang Day; BARMM Buffer Fund Act of 2022; Bangsamoro Irrigation Act of 2022; and the Bangsamoro Veteran Mujahideen Act of 2022.
The BTA also introduced three proposed measures, including the Bangsamoro Memorial Marker Act; Offices for Special Geographic Areas Act; and establishing the administrative capital of the Bangsamoro Government in Parang, Maguindanao.
From 2019 until 2022, the first parliament passed 31 bills and adopted 263 resolutions. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)