DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 18 Sept)—For the regional director of the Commission on Elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Comelec-BARMM), there are two options for the parliamentary elections to push through after the Supreme Court ruled that Sulu is not part of BARMM.
Comelec-BARMM chief Ray Sumalipao said the seven seats allotted to Sulu can be left vacant, or can be reapportioned to the other provinces and cities who are asking for more districts like the case of the Special Geographic Area (SGA) and Cotabato City.
He said it is in the hands now of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) or Congress to act on legislation what to do with the seven seats allotted for Sulu.
As stipulated in the Republic Act 11054, the law that created the Bangsamoro region, the Parliament will have 80 seats: 40 from party representatives, 32 district representatives, and eight sectoral seats.
Sumalipao said that “the problem here is the lawful effect or the technical effect after the number of districts were deducted.” Considering that the law says the parliament will have 80 members, “we have to respond to it but it’s not within the Comelec’s power. The BTA or Congress should shed light on this,” he said during a podcast interview with Kutangbato News aired over Facebook on Monday.
He said the seven district representation from Sulu can be left vacant, and up to Congress or the President appointing the seven later.
There is also a possibility that the seven district representation slots from Sulu will be offered to other provinces and cities who are asking for more seats, like the case of the Special Geographic Area (SGA) and Cotabato City, so long as it is supported by legislation from Congress or BTA, according to Sumalipao.
Earlier, Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia said in a press statement that instead of 32, only 25 districts will be voted upon, excluding the seven allotted for Sulu. “As far as the Comelec is concerned, so long as yung lahat ng mga probinsya na naroon sa present Bangsamoro minus Sulu ay properly represented ng mga delegado, saming pananaw ay sapat na po yun” (so long as all the provinces in the present Bangsamoro minus Sulu are properly represented by delegates, in our view, that would be enough),” Garcia said.
The Comelec has extended for one month the filing of certificates of candidacies for district representations and party affiliations for the parliamentary elections to November 4-9 as consequence of the changes. But it said it will stick to the October 1-8 schedule for the other local positions.
The 16 political parties are also affected by the recent changes, as several of their members are stationed in Sulu or have chapters installed.
Meanwhile, the exclusion of Sulu in the BARMM election is a sigh of relief for Comelec-BARMM in terms of workload and resources, according to Sumalipao. “It helped us a little bit because it reduced our jurisdiction,” he said. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)
