COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 6 January) — Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Speaker Mohammad Yacob on Tuesday called for a special session on January 12 to pass the new districting law so the twice-postponed 1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections can push through.
The BTA Parliament is currently on recess and is supposed to resume sessions on January 19. Yacob called for the special session upon the request of Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua.
Macacua on December 22 called on Yacob to convene a special session on December 29 to 31 to pass the districting law but no special session was convened.
The first Bangsamoro election should have been on May 9, 2022 but was reset to May 12, 2025 and again reset to October 13, 2025.
The October 13 polls did not push through because the Supreme Court on September 30 declared as unconstitutional the two districting laws passed by the BTA — Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 58 which was passed in 2024 before Sulu was declared out of the BARMM, and BAA 77 which was passed to reallocate Sulu’s supposed seven districts into the other BARMM areas.
Up for election are 80 seats — 40 for party representatives, 32 for single district representatives, and eight sectoral representatives. The districting law serves as the basis for the election of the single district representatives.
The BARMM comprises the provinces of Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur and Lanao del Sur, and the cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Cotabato, and the Special Geographic Area (SGA).
The Supreme Court in its September 30 ruling urged the BTA to pass a districting law by October 30, 2025 “that faithfully complies with constitutional and national law requirements.” 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 to ensure adequate preparations for the latter.”
Macacua’s December 22 letter to Yacob came following a failed attempt to finalize and pass the proposed law on December 18, the last session day last year. But the 80-member Parliament failed to muster a quorum.
Only 38 Members of Parliament (MPs) were present — three short of the 41-member simple majority required to conduct official business.
Also on Tuesday, a petition for indirect contempt under Rule 71 was reportedly filed against 10 Members of Parliament who pushed for the passage of the districting law last month.
Copies of pages 1, 36 and 37 of the alleged petition were circulated on social media but there are no markings to indicate it had been filed at the Supreme Court.
Petitioner Zaoawi Buludan wants the court to cite for indirect contempt MPs Naguib Sinarimbo, chair of the Committee on Local Governments; Ishak Mastura, Tomanda Antok, Zulfickar-Ali Bayam, Rasul Ismael, Kitem Kadatuan, Rasol Mitmug, Amenodin Sumagayan, Romeo Sema and Engr. Baintan Ampatuan.
Sinarimbo described the petition as “political harassment,” noting that the 10 of them pushed for the passage of the districting bill at the committee level and the plenary on December 18.
Sinarimbo asked why only a few MPs were made respondents instead of the entire BTA which the Supreme Court had mandated to pass the districting law.
He said the truth will come out on who really blocked the passage of the law and cited two groups — those who opposed the passage of the committee, and the group that deliberately boycotted the December 18 session to ensure there would be no quorum and no bill would be passed.
He said it is easy to check the attendance, particularly on who were around but did not show up at the session hall. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)
