A Supreme Court restraining order has deferred the first parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which was scheduled for October 18. The order bars the Commission on Elections and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority from implementing the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 77, which reallocated parliamentary seats after Sulu opted out of BARMM in 2019. The region is currently governed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, composed of presidential appointees, which is supposed to turn over power to a duly elected parliamentary government. The first parliamentary election was initially scheduled for May 2023 but was reset to May 12, 2025, and then again to October 13. The Supreme Court’s order effectively rules out an election on the scheduled date as it deliberates on two cases challenging the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 77. The petitioners argue that the law introduced “confusion, division, and disenfranchisement” among the BARMM electorate and disregards the contiguous, compact, and adjacent territorial requirement. The Commission on Elections has stopped its poll preparations in compliance with the restraining order. There are two distinct views on the postponement of the BARMM election, with one holding that it will allow the transitional authority to properly reapportion Sulu’s seven seats and provide Congress with a chance to iron out other relevant issues. The other view is that holding parliamentary elections without the full decommissioning of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants will increase the risk of political instability and undermine economic security and investor confidence in the region. Those opposed to postponement argue that extending the term of government appointees in the transition authority does not guarantee the legitimacy and accountability of political leaders. The BARMM education minister, Mohagher Iqbal, stated that being elected by the people provides more legitimacy than being appointed by the president. The Institute for Autonomy and Governance and the Climate Conflict Action Asia maintain that postponing the election for one year is unconstitutional. The region is still recovering from years of conflict that has stunted its growth, with BARMM having the highest poverty incidence in the country until last year. The Supreme Court must rule with finality on the holding of an election in BARMM, as the Muslims of Mindanao have been denied the chance to determine their political fate for far too long.
