COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 23 December) — Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua on Monday called on Speaker Mohammad Yacob to convene a special session on December 29 to 31 to pass the districting law so the twice-postponed first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao can finally push through. The Chief Minister’s December 22 letter to Yacob came following a failed attempt to finalize and pass the proposed law last December 18, supposedly the last session day this year, as the 80-member Parliament of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) failed to muster a quorum, with only 38 Members of Parliament present—three short of the 41-member simple majority required to conduct official business. On Monday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) issued Resolution No. 11183, indefinitely suspending the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the 1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) because no districting law has been passed. Comelec chair George Garcia also said they cannot print ballots in the absence of a districting law. The Philippine Star in its report on December 22 quoted Garcia as saying that Comelec plans to ask Congress to pass a law that will move the regional elections to November 2, 2026 instead, along with the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections. The first regular election should have been held in May 2022 but was reset to May 2025 and again reset to October 13, 2025. The election did not push through because the Supreme Court on September 30 declared as unconstitutional Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 77 and the earlier districting law, BAA 58, which was passed before the Supreme Court in 2024 declared Sulu to be out of the BARMM. The seven district seats originally intended for Sulu were distributed to the other BARMM areas through BAA 77. BARMM voters are supposed to elect 80 Members of Parliament—40 political party representatives, 32 single-district representatives, and eight sectoral representatives. The new districting law will be the basis for the election of district representatives. The Court said the BTA should 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 next year, the BSKE polls in November. It 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.” In compliance with the Supreme Court ruling, the Comelec on November 25 released the calendar of activities in connection with the “March 30, 2026” date of the 1st BPE. 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. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)
