DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 30 January) – The proposed date for the 1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) mentioned in the January 28 resolution of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is September 2026 “at the earliest” but this poses another challenge as the Constitution and the Bangsamoro Organic Law provide for a three-year term of office for the MPs, and local and national elections must be synchronized, with May 2028 as the next.
The Comelec en banc, in its Minute Resolution 0071 on Wednesday, said it is no longer feasible to hold the 1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) on March 30, the date suggested by the Supreme Court in its September 2025 decision, as the election timelines “are already too proximate,” and noted it can be held in September 2026 “at the earliest.”
Congress has not passed a law setting the date for the 1st BPE after the October 13 polls was canceled. The “March 30, 2026” date was not set by Congress.
The resolution said the 1st BPE could be held “beyond 30 March 2026” because the new districting law was passed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) beyond the October 30, 2025 deadline set by the Supreme Court.
Parliamentary Bill 415, the new districting measure, was passed in the early hours of January 13, and signed into law as Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 86, on January 20.
The Supreme Court last September 30 declared the two previous districting laws – Bangsamoro Autonomy Acts 58 and 77 — unconstitutional, and directed the BTA to enact “by October 30, 2025 a districting law that faithfully complies with constitutional and national law requirements,” urged Congress to “promptly enact a law that would reschedule the BARMM Parliamentary Elections … as much as practicable, not later than March 31, 2026 to ensure adequate preparations for the latter” and because there is another election scheduled in 2026, the BSKE polls in November.
The Supreme Court also added that after the BTA’s passage of the new districting law, “and in compliance with Section 5 of the Voter’s Registration Act,” the Comelec is directed to “promptly proceed with its preparations and conduct elections not later than March 31, 2026.”
BARMM voters are supposed to elect 80 Members of Parliament — 40 political party representatives, 32 single-district representatives and eight sectoral representatives. The districting law is the basis for the election of district representatives.
Section 5 of RA 8189 or “The Voters Registration Act of 1996” 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 the Supreme Court declared BAA 77 invalid was because it violated this 120-day requirement.
The 120-day requirement for the March 30, 2026 proposed date of election could have been met if the new districting law was passed on November 30.
But even without the passage of a new districting law, and even before Congress which is mandated to set the date of the elections, could pass a law resetting the election date, the Comelec, in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling, released on November 25 the calendar of activities in connection with the “March 30, 2026” date of the 1st BPE.
Comelec Resolution 11181 set the date of the filing of certificates of candidacy from January 5 to 9, 2026; election period from January 29 to April 14; campaign period and the campaign period from February 12 to March 28.
The first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections should have been held on May 9, 2022 but this was reset to May 12, 2025 and again reset to October 13, 2025 but did not push through because of the Supreme Court ruling.
The delays in holding the elections mean extending further the transition period that should have ended in 2022. The Bangsamoro in transition is now on its 7th year instead of only three years.
For the 1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections, voting for the eight sectoral representatives — two from Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples, two from settler communities, and one each for women, youth, Ulama, and traditional leaders —
will be done earlier, during an assembly called by accredited and registered sectoral organizations through their respective ministries.
The conduct of Assemblies and Conventions for the Election of Parliamentary Sectoral Representatives cannot proceed until the date of the elections is set.
The January 28 Comelec resolution also set aside and terminated all activities under Comelec’s Resolution 11181 and 11184, the latter in relation of the election of sectoral representatives supposedly for the “March 30, 2026” proposed date of election.
Setting the date
The Comelec is now waiting for Congress to set the date of the 1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri filed a bill to set the date of the BPE on March 30, 2026. But Senate Bill 1587, filed on December 9, 2025, was late as it could not also meet the 120-day requirement if elections were to be held on March 30. Also, the BTA had not passed a districting law then.
The resolution also cited the Bangsamoro Study Group’s (BSG) memorandum that in view of the compressed timeline resulting from the late passage of PB 415, “it now becomes operationally infeasible to conduct automated PE by 30 March 2026 without risking significant administrative and technical deficiencies.”
“The BSG submits that the automated BPE be conducted in September 2026 at the earliest,” it said.
On the same day the Comelec resolution was issued, the BTA passed Parliamentary Bills 396 and 419 amending some provisions of the Bangsamoro Electoral Code.
A September 2026 “at the earliest” date for the 1st BPE, however, will likely be questioned as the elected Members of Parliament will have a truncated term – one year and 9 months only if reckoned from September 30, 2026 to June 30, 2028 – instead of the mandated three years.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, chair of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, told MindaNews in November that that BARMM MPs raised the issue of reckoning the three-year term during their visit to the House of Representatives in Quezon City earlier that month.
“The question is whether someone will file a petition na naman sa korte citing the three-year constitutional provision for elected officials. But if elections were held in 2026, Alonto said, “definitely (we) cannot hold the (next) BARMM elections in 2029 kasi that’s a violation of the synchronization law.
Bangsamoro Deputy Speaker Ishak Mastura told MindaNews in November that if Congress and Malacanang decide on an election in 2026, “then the best option is to make the term of the first elected Members of Parliament five years (2026 to 2031) to avoid issues regarding cutting or shortening the regular term of three years of MPs and issues of synchronization in the elections.”
“Otherwise,” Mastura added, “Congress can set the first BARMM Parliamentary Elections during the regular NLE (national and local elections) in 2028.”
Holding the elections in 2028 means extending the transition period to a total of nine years and four months from February 2019 to June 30, 2028 – more than thrice the original intent to transition in three years – February 2019 to June 30, 2022. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
