MANILA, Philippines – The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is a step closer to its first regional parliamentary elections as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) opened the filing period for certificates of candidacy (COCs) on Monday, November 4.
Aspirants have until November 9 to file their COCs and declarations of intent to participate in the parliamentary elections in the Muslim-majority region.
The first BARMM parliamentary elections are set for May 12 next year, simultaneous with the national and local midterm elections. The members of the regional parliament will then choose BARMM’s chief minister.
This will follow years of governance by an interim parliament, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), appointed by the president after the region’s creation in 2019. BARMM’s current chief minister, Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, is a presidential appointee, along with other BTA members.
The filing period for COCs was rescheduled after a Supreme Court (SC) ruling on September 9 excluded Sulu from BARMM due to the province’s non-ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in the 2019 plebiscite.
The ruling prompted Comelec to move the filing period from October 1 to 8 to November 4 to 9 for aspirants representing BARMM’s 25 parliamentary districts, as well as party representatives.
The BARMM parliament also includes sectoral representatives: a tribal leader, an ulama, two Moro and indigenous people representatives, two community settlers, two representatives for women and the youth.
In February, the BARMM parliament established parliamentary districts in Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Cotabato City, the Bangsamoro special geographic area in Cotabato province, and in Sulu.
But with Sulu’s exclusion based on the SC ruling, seven seats initially reserved for the province are no longer part of the composition.
The move followed the 2023 approval of the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, which reserves 40 seats in the BARMM parliament to political parties, eight to sectoral representatives, and 32 to the newly created districts. Starting next year, members of parliament will be elected every three years.
The districts were drawn based on population and geographic guidelines set by the BARMM, which require each district to be compact, contiguous, and adjacent, with at least 100,000 residents.
Ray Sumalipao, Comelec-BARMM director, said four seats are allocated for Tawi-Tawi, eight for Lanao del Sur (including one for Marawi), four each for Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur, three for Basilan, and two for Cotabato City, the regional center.
But in a move seen as a last-ditch effort to delay the BARMM elections, BARMM parliament member Baintan Ampatuan authored a resolution calling on Congress to reset the first regional elections to 2028 to ensure a “smooth democratic transition.”
If Congress approves the BTA’s proposed extension, it would be the second delay in BARMM’s parliamentary elections. The Bangsamoro Organic Law initially scheduled these elections for May 2023, but Republic Act 11593, signed in 2021 by then-president Rodrigo Duterte, rescheduled them to coincide with the 2025 midterm elections.
Security measures
Authorities have stepped up security measures at the seat of the Bangsamoro regional government in Cotabato City the way it did during the filing of COCs for national and local governments seats in October, according to Lieutenant Colonel Lester Mark Baky, commander of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 5.
Just like the October 1 to 8 filing of COCs, one lane of the Governor Gutierrez Avenue, a one-kilometer stretch leading to the Bangsamoro Government Center (BGC), was closed. The BGC is where the Comelec in the BARMM is located.
Only one lane would stay open for those submitting COCs for BARMM regional positions. Each aspirant may bring at least three companions.
Authorities said the partial closure would remain in place until November 9. – Rappler.com
