DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 01 October) – The first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) will be reset for a third time but not later than March 31, 2026, as the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the two laws — Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 58 which created the 32 parliamentary districts and BAA 77 or the redistricting law — are both unconstitutional.
“Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 77 is declared unconstitutional and the injunction against it is made permanent. Respondents, Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) and the Comelec (Commission on Elections) are enjoined from conducting any activity relating to the enforcement of BAA 77,” Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Sue Mae L. Ting announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Ting said BAA 58 has also been declared unconstitutional but no other details have been provided on the decision reached on Tuesday, 13 days before the scheduled October 13 polls, but announced on Wednesday afternoon.
As of 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the decision has not been uploaded in the Supreme Court’s website.
Ting said the Court directed the BTA, which passed BAA 58 and 77, to “immediately undertake by October 30, 2025 at the latest” the passage of a new law for the 32 parliamentary district seats in the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) “in strict compliance with the priorities and requirements provided to the Bangsamoro Organic Law, as well as the criteria laid down in this decision.”
Immediately after the passage of the new districting law, the Comelec is directed to “proceed with its preparations and conduct the elections in compliance (with Section 5 of the Voter’s Registration Act) not later than March 31, 2026.”
Section 5 of the Voters’ Registration Act provides that “no territory comprising an election precinct shall be altered or a new precinct be established at the start of the election period” and “splitting of an original precinct or merger of two or more original precincts shall not be allowed without redrawing the precinct map/s one hundred twenty (120) days before election day.”
BAA 77 was passed on August 19, five days after the election period started, and was signed into law by Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua on August 28, Day 1 of the 45-day campaign period.
The Supreme Court on September 15 issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) barring the Comelec from implementing BAA 77. The SC decision was announced on September 16 and on September 17, the Comelec suspended all preparations for the October 13 polls, claiming it has no legal basis to conduct the elections as BAA 58, which they used for the parliamentary districts, has been repealed by BAA 77 and the high court had barred them from implementing the law pending the resolution of the cases.
Voters in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are to elect 80 Members of Parliament (MP): 40 representatives of regional parliamentary political parties (RPPPs), 32 representatives of parliamentary districts and eight sectoral representatives.
The BARMM is a product of the peace agreement signed by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in March 2014. It was established in February 2019, a month after the ratification of RA 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM.
Based on the peace agreement and the Organic Law, the MILF leads the 80-member BTA. The transition period began in February 2019 with the appointment of 80 MPs and was supposed to end on June 30, 2022 but the May 9, 2022 election was reset to May 12, 20025.
In early February this year, Congress, through RA 12123, reset the polls to October 13, 2025. This law also provided that the term of the first elected MPs will start on October 30, 2025.
Since 2019, three sets of MPs have been appointed — by President Rodrigo Duterte from February 2019 until June 30, 2022; by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from August 2022 to March 2025 and from March 2025 until October 30, the day the first elected MPs are supposed to assume their posts.
Malacañang has yet to announce if the appointed MPs will continue to serve beyond October 30.
By March 31, 2026, the Bangsamoro transition period would have been seven years and one month or more than twice the supposed three-year transition period. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
