The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has postponed the printing of ballots for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections following the bicameral conference committee’s decision to move the polls to October 13, 2025, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia announced Sunday.
“Hindi natin pinatuloy ang pag-iimprenta ng mga balota para sa BARMM Parliamentary Elections ballots pagkat mataas ang posibilidad, may enrolled bill na, maging panukalang batas na,” said Garcia on Super Radyo dzBB.
(We halted the printing of ballots for the BARMM parliamentary elections since an enrolled bill moving the election date is likely to become law.)
Despite this, Garcia confirmed that the printing of ballots for the national and local elections in BARMM remains ongoing.
Comelec has printed approximately 32 million ballots—42% of the total required for the May 12 elections—and remains on schedule. The commission previously announced that printing would be completed by March, with verification set for April.
Seat redistribution
If the bill moving the BARMM parliamentary elections to October 13 is enacted, Comelec will assess whether the existing list of candidates will be retained or if a new filing of candidacy will be required.
Under the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, Sulu was allocated seven of the 80 parliament seats.
However, after the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law in September, it ruled that Sulu was no longer part of the BARMM.
This decision necessitates the redistribution of the vacated seats.
“Kung magkakaroon ng redistrubution, mukhang kakailanganin merong bayan sa district na ito, ilipat sa kabilang distrito o mag create ng panibagong mga distrito,” Garcia explained.
“Pag nagkaganoon, maa-alter yung mga bilang ng bayan sa bawat distrito. Therefore, kinakailangan kaming magpa-open ng filing of candidacy doon sa mga lugar na maapektuhan.”
(If a redistribution happens, we may need to reassign towns to different districts or even create new ones, which will alter the composition of each district. In that case, we’ll have to reopen the filing of candidacies in the affected areas.)
According to the Comelec, 109 aspirants have filed their candidacies for district representative seats in the 2025 Bangsamoro polls. — DVM, GMA Integrated News
