COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 19 November) – A petition has been filed at the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of Republic Act 11591, the law extending the term of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) until 2025, barely six months before the election for a regular parliament in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The petition filed on Monday asked for certiorari, prohibition and mandamus. Named respondents are the Office of the President, Senate, House of Representatives, Commission on Elections, and BTA.
The move was prompted by Senate Bill 2862 and House Bill 11043 that seek to postpone the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections to May 11, 2026 instead of holding it on May 12, 2025 to coincide with the midterm polls.
“By questioning the previous extension law, we aim to correct any deviations from our Constitution,” lawyer Hannief Ampatuan, the legal counsel of the group that filed the petition, said.
While some questioned the timing of the petition, with the BTA’s term nearing its end, the petitioners said their goal is to rectify laws that deviate from the Constitution.
They argued that the extension law potentially infringes on the rights of citizens, including those in the Bangsamoro region, and may have implications for the parliamentary system.
“When a law deviates from our position, there’s a significant possibility that it violates the rights of our people, particularly the rights of the Bangsamoro. We want to rectify this, and if it is corrected, it will provide a basis for Congress to pass a new law,” Ampatuan said.
“We have been repeatedly denied election. Instead of elective officials of the Bangsamoro Parliament we have appointed officials in the BTA for five years already,” he said.
The BTA was formed in February 2019, a month after the plebiscite that ratified the law creating the BARMM.
The petitioners said they are seeking to ensure that the voices of all Bangsamoro people are heard.
They believe that a plebiscite should be conducted to allow every Bangsamoro citizen to express their opinion on the extension.
“We want to hear the voice of every Bangsamoro, our Bapa and Babo (aunts and uncles), whether they are in favor of or against the extension,” said Badrodin Mangindra, another legal counsel of the group, adding the basic foundation of peace is election.
“We want a plebiscite to be held so that we can hear from our fellow Bangsamoro. Their rights were violated in 2022 when the BTA was extended. Now, their voices are again being ignored. We aim to rectify that law and provide Congress with a basis for action based on the Supreme Court’s decision,” he said.
“This is an initiative of our group. It’s just a few of us individuals who came together to hopefully have elections in the Bangsamoro in 2025,” according to Abulkhair Alibasa, one of the petitioners.
“Our organizations and political parties are not involved in this,” he added. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera/MindaNews)
