MANILA, Philippines – A group that advocated for the peace agreement leading to the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and a conflict-monitoring watchdog involved in data gathering and analysis, opposed proposals to postpone the region’s first parliamentary elections to 2026.
In a statement released Tuesday, November 12, the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) and the Climate and Conflict Action (CCAA) asserted that there is no valid reason to delay the 2025 Bangsamoro regional elections.
IAG and CCAA argued that the Supreme Court’s (SC) September decision on excluding Sulu province from the BARMM does not justify postponing the regional elections.
Senate President Francis Escudero, Speaker Martin Romualdez, and other legislators filed bills on November 4 and 5 in both chambers of Congress to push for delaying the elections to 2026, citing the need for the BARMM to adjust following Sulu’s removal from the region.
While the SC decision resolved questions on the constitutionality of the BARMM’s creation, it also ruled that Sulu is not part of the Muslim-majority region, based on the 2019 plebiscite results where the province voted against ratifying the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). In that plebiscite, a majority of Sulu’s voters rejected the law.
The SC ruling, in effect, reduced the number of BARMM parliamentary seats from 80 to 73, as Sulu had been allocated seven parliamentary district seats.
Authors of the Senate and House bills argue that reallocation of Sulu’s seven seats is necessary, but the process would take time.
The IAG and CCAA, however, disagreed. They said, “The so-called ‘legal imperative’ to reallocate seats as an offshoot of the Sulu decision to complete the 80 seats to be elected in accordance with the Bangsamoro Organic Law is not an imperative at all.”
The groups said motions for reconsideration, including one from the Bangsamoro Attorney General’s Office, were submitted to the high court, and have yet to be resolved.
They argued that until the SC ruled on it with finality, the interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) “is not in a position to pass any legislation to address legal issues around the Sulu ruling.”
They added, “Postponing the elections based on false assumptions does not justify suppressing the right of suffrage of BARMM’s 2.3 million voters.”
On November 12, SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting clarified that the high court’s September ruling on the BARMM law, including Sulu’s exclusion, was “immediately executory” despite pending motions for reconsideration.
Ting said, “The Court, consistent with its prior rulings, issued the order making the decision immediately executory knowing that the election cannot be postponed.”
IAG and CCAA argued that postponing the BARMM elections would be unconstitutional, as it would separate the regional elections from national and local ones and violate the BARMM parliament’s constitutionally mandated three-year term.
“A more imminent and serious threat looms behind any action that will frustrate local expectations and demands for immediate change and extend the status quo in a region reeling from mounting violence and corruption,” read part of the statement.
IAG and CCAA warned that a postponement could incentivize further violence and be seen as an attempt to subvert the will of the people.
“We call on the House of Representatives and the Senate to not rush the passage of the bill postponing the regional elections…. Forcing its passage will have grave implications to the peace process and security of the region,” the groups said.
Despite the snowballing opposition to the Senate and House bills, the proposal to delay the parliamentary elections to 2026 has received support from various local political groups.
In Maguindanao del Sur, a dozen mayors signed a position paper backing the postponement, citing unfinished BTA programs, Sulu’s exclusion despite its historical role in the Bangsamoro struggle, the disenfranchisement of Sulu residents, and the unresolved status of BARMM’s Special Geographic Area in Cotabato province.
Ten more mayors from Basilan province, including Lamitan City Mayor Roderick Furigay, signed a separate position paper supporting the election delay. The position paper will be submitted to Congress.
During a public hearing by the Senate committee on local government, Maguindanao del Norte Governor Abdulraof Macacua expressed support for the postponement, clarifying he would not personally benefit from it.
Macacua, formerly a BARMM minister before becoming officer-in-charge of the Maguindanao provincial government, said there is still a lack of public understanding about the parliamentary election process, necessitating more time for voter education. He also stressed the need to streamline administrative procedures to enhance the regional election’s credibility and success.
Macacua, incidentally, has filed his certificate of candidacy for one of the four parliamentary districts of Maguindanao del Norte and will step down once the province elects its first governor in 2025. – Rappler.com