DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 19 November) – With only five session days left from November 20 until the end of the month, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) cannot meet the November 30 deadline to pass a new districting law so that the twice-postponed 1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) can be held “not later than March 31, 2026.”
According to Parliament Resolution 460, there are only five session days left this month — November 20 and November 24 to 27. But Members of Parliament (MPs) are now busy with another major bill: the proposed 2026 budget, raising the possibilities of an election after March 31, 2026 or in May 2028. (read other story)
Five bills have been filed to apportion the 32 Bangsamoro districts across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) six provinces, three cities and the special geographic area, following the Supreme Court’s ruling that the previous districting laws – Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 58 and 77 – are unconstitutional.
Parliamentary Bills 403, 407 and 408 were all filed in October while PB 411 was filed on November 3. All f bills have been referred to the Committees on Rules and Local Governments which held a joint meeting on Friday, November 14 with the Bangsamoro Attorney General but after two hours suspended it to give way to the Friday prayers. PB 415 was filed on November 18.
The Government of the Day (GOTD which refers to the Cabinet headed by the Chief Minister, has yet to file its bill.
A new law is needed to allocate the districts for the election of 32 single-member representatives out of the 80 Members of Parliament in the 1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE).
The Supreme Court on September 30 declared Bangsamoro Autonomy Acts 58 and 77 unconstitutional, a decision immediately executory, and directed the BTA to “immediately undertake by October 30, 2025 at the latest” the passage of a new law for the 32 parliamentary district seats “in strict compliance with the priorities and requirements provided to the Bangsamoro Organic Law, as well as the criteria laid down in this decision.”
It also urged Congress to “promptly enact a law that would reschedule the BARMM Parliamentary Elections … as much as practicable, not later than March 31, 2026.”
No new law was passed by the BTA on October 30. Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair George Erwin Garcia told reporters in Manila on November 4 that if the elections were to be held on March 31, 2026, the Bangsamoro Parliament has until November 30 to meet the other legal requirements.
“Very difficult”
On November 11, at the hearing of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms in Quezon City, Garcia said if there is no districting law by November 30, it would be “very difficult” for Comelec to conduct the polls by March 2026 as they must start filing of candidacy by the first week of January “at all costs” and print ballots by the first week of February.
ABS-CBN reported that Garcia also raised the question on why the parliament would pass the districting law when Congress has yet to pass one on resetting the polls.
“Why will the parliament pass a districting law when there is no law yet passed by Congress? Which will come first? That will be the problem,” Garcia was quoted as saying.
Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, Committee chair, told MindaNews on November 12 that that “BTA should enact a new redistricting law before Congress can even start deliberating the resetting of the BARMM elections.”
“It would be prudent to determine first each of the parliamentary districts as a basis for Congress to pass a measure resetting the election as well as for Comelec to be guided in preparing the election paraphernalia consistent with each district specification,” he said.
Lawyer Ona Caritos, Executive Director of the election monitoring group Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) told MindaNews that what was evident during the hearing of the Committee is that the House of Representatives lacked “information/notice” about the postponement law. “Pero nung na-take up naman, House is willing to pass the law. I think same with the Senate. They just need to be informed about the law’s urgency.”
“In our humble opinion, BTA should not pass the ball to Congress. They should pass the redistricting law first. It is part of their mandate, as well (as compliance) with the Supreme Court’s order,” she said.
November 30
Asked if the BTA can still pass the new districting law by November 30,
Macacua told MindaNews on Sunday: “nakadepende sa proseso. Kung back to zero, malamang hindi kaya. Kasi base sa grassroots consultation” (depends on the process. If it’s back to zero, likely not. It should be based on grassroots consultation).
The BTA, however, does not need to go “back to zero” as the Supreme Court already provided guidelines for the BTA to ensure the new law complies with the Constitution and the Bangsamoro Organic law. The SC said compliance should be checked against the following factors: classification and accurate allocation of seats; proper manner by which the seats are filled; validity of redistricting of geographical areas; and correspondence between territorial coverage and residence of the voters and candidates.
Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Peace Implementing Panel and concurrent Education Minister, told MindaNews: ”Hindi na” (not anymore) in response to the same query MindaNews asked Macacua “pero pag gusto ng CM (Chief Minister), kaya pa rin” (but if the CM wants, it can be done), he said.
“No, we might not be able to pass it by November 30 though this week we’re supposed to start the simultaneous consultations per province. Plus the budget hearing. Most probably by 1st week of December,” Deputy Speaker Laisa Alamia told MindaNews on Monday.”
“We will try our best,” MP Naguib Sinarimbo, chair of the Local Governments Committee, told MindaNews also on Monday. But Sinarimbo was quick to add: “The reality, however is the Parliament has a very tight schedule given that this is also the budget season and most of its time will be spent on budget deliberations for the 2026 budget of the BARMM Government.”
BTA Speaker Mohammad Yacob told MindaNews on Tuesday that the Parliament committed to pass a new districting law “even earlier than Nov. 30. However, the question is, is it possible? Considering that the Parliament should ensure all legal processes.”
Reminded there are only a few session days left until November 30, Yacob replied: “the Parliament did not set a date like November 30 but we are maximizing our efforts to pass this law as soon as possible within this year. Best efforts this year.”
120 days
The Supreme Court had also directed the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that immediately after the passage of the new districting law, it has 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.”
Among the reasons why BAA 77 was declared unconstitutional was because it did not meet the 120-day requirement.
If elections were to be held on March 31, 2026, reckoning 120 days would be November 30, 2025. This was why after the BTA failed to meet the October 30 deadline, Garcia said it had up to November 30 to pass the new law if elections were to be held in accordance with the Supreme Court’s “not later than March 31, 2026” directive.
Voters in the Bangsamoro were supposed to elect 80 MPs — 40 political party representatives, 32 single district representatives, and eight sectoral representatives in the May 9, 2022 elections which was reset to May 12, 2025 and again reset from May 12, 2025 to October 13, 2025 and will be rescheduled again to a still undetermined date.
BAA 58, passed and signed into law in February 2024, allocated 32 districts for all BARMM-member provinces and the Special Geographic Area (SGA) when Sulu was still part of the BARMM, giving it seven seats.
After the Supreme Court ruled in September 2024 that Sulu is no longer part of the BARMM, another law was passed in August 2025 — BAA 77 – amending BAA 58 by re-allocating the seven seats originally intended for Sulu, to the rest of the BARMM’s Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato City and the SGA.
Both laws were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on September 30, 2025, making it impossible to hold the October 13, 2025 polls.
5 Parliamentary Bills
PB 403 was filed on October 24 by seven Members of Parliament (MPs) led by Suharto Ambolodto; PB 407 on October 28 by 30 MILF-aligned MPs led by Speaker Yacob and Iqbal; PB 408 filed also on October 28 by five MPs aligned with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)-Misuari led by Romeo Sema and Abdulkarim Misuari; PB 411 on November 3 by four MPs aligned with MP Baintan Ampatuan; and PB 415 on November 18 by ten MPs who were appointed in March 2025, led by Naguib Sinarimbo, who chairs the Committee on Local Governments.
PB 403, 407, 408 and 415 propose nine seats for Lanao del Sur, five for Maguindanao del Norte, five for Maguindanao del Sur, four for Basilan, four for Tawi-Tawi, three for Cotabato City and two for SGA. PB 411 proposes five districts for Basilan and only one for SGA.
PB 403, 408, 411 and 415 propose Lamitan City to be the 1st district in Basilan; PB 407 adds Akbar town to Lamitan for the 1st district.
PB 403, 411 and 415 propose Marawi City to be the first district in Lanao del Sur; PB 408 wants Marawi City to be the ninth district; while PB 407 wants two districts for Marawi City.
PB 407 proposes the towns of Kapai and Tagoloan II to be under Lanao del Sur’s third district, along with the towns of Marantao, Piagapo and Saguiaran; PB 408 puts Kapai and Tagoloan II in the first district, along with the towns of Bubong, Maguing and Ditsaan Ramain, PB 403 puts Kapai in the second district and Tagoloan II in the third while PB 411 puts Kapai and Tagoloan II, along with Bubong, Ditsaan-Ramain and Buadipuso-Buntong in the third district.
PB 415’s second district in Lanao del Sur will comprise Kapai, Marantao, Piagapo and Saguiaran. Tagoloan II is in the third district. PB 403and 411 consider Parang in Maguindanao del Norte as one district. Under PB 407 and 415, Parang and Sultan Mastura comprise one district.
PB 403 and 411 combine Sultan Mastura and Sultan Kudarat into one district while PB 408 proposes a district comprising Sultan Mastura, Talitay, Northern Kabuntalan and Kabuntalan.
PB 416, filed on PB 403and 411 consider Parang in Maguindanao del Norte as one district. Under PB 407 and 415, Parang and Sultan Mastura comprise one district.
PB 403 and 411 combine Sultan Mastura and Sultan Kudarat into one district while PB 408 proposes a district comprising Sultan Mastura, Talitay, Northern Kabuntalan and Kabuntalan.
There is another bill, PB 416 filed on November 18 by a group led by MP Mohammad Kelie Antao of the Special Geographic Area (SGA) that focuses only on the parliamentary districts under the SGA.
PB 415 proposes two parliamentary districts and identifies which barangays fall under which district.
In the creation of parliamentary districts, the Supreme Court warned against gerrymandering or the creation of representative districts out of separate portions of territory to favor a candidate.
The Constitution mandates each legislative district to comprise, as far as practicable, a “contiguous, compact and adjacent territory.” Each city or province with a population of at least 250,000 shall have at least one representative.
In the BARMM, RA 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM, provides that parliamentary districts are to be apportioned based on population and geographic area and “shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact, and adjacent territory” with a population of at least 100,000.
Motions for Reconsideration
MPs Rasol Mitmug and Rasul Esmael filed a motion for intervention and reconsideration on October 16 for the Supreme Court to declare BAA 77 constitutional and valid; set aside portion of the assailed decision mandating Comelec to conduct first regular parliamentary elections not later than 31 March 2025, among others.
MP Abdullah “Bravo” Macapaar also filed a motion for reconsideration, maintaining that BAA 58 is constitutional.
The Bangsamoro Government through the Bangsamoro Attorney General’s Office (BAGO) also filed a motion for partial reconsideration on behalf of the BTA and the Chief Minister, asserting that BAA 77 is constitutional.
Deputy Speaker Ishak Mastura told MindaNews on Wednesday that the Supreme Court’s decision is “not final and executory” because there is no entry of judgment and there are pending motions for reconsideration. He cited a Supreme Court rule that a motion for reconsideration filed within the 15-day period from receipt of a copy of the decision or resolution “shall stay the execution of such decision or resolution.”
The Supreme Court’s decision on September 30 was “immediately executory.” It said the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections “should be conducted, as much as practicable, not later than March 31, 2026, to ensure adequate preparations for the latter.”
It cited the “upcoming regular elections of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan on November 2, 2026” which the Comelec has to prepare for.
The Court also said that at this critical point in history, “it may be said that the competing political interests of various parties, regardless of the righteousness of their ideologies or advocacies, are directly contributing to the delay in the conduct of the BARMM Parliamentary Elections” and that such delay is “an affront to the Bangsamoro people’s right to vote.” (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
