BARMM polls likely postponed again as legal, logistical hurdles persist on NewsLine Philippines - Building Information Highway for the Community
COTABATO CITY (January 20) — The long-delayed first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) are unlikely to proceed as scheduled in March and may be postponed anew later this year, following signals from both the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Congress.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the poll body has formally proposed to Congress the resetting of the maiden regional elections to May, September, or October 2026, citing unresolved legal and operational constraints.
“We have submitted a bill to the Lower House, to the chairman of the committee on suffrage and electoral reforms,” Garcia said, referring to ongoing coordination with lawmakers on a new election timetable.
Congress backs another reset
In a parallel move, Zia Alonto Adiong, chair of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, said he would file a bill resetting the BPE when Congress resumes session on January 26.
Once filed, the measure will be referred to his committee, Adiong said, assuring that its passage would be prioritized.
“This is one of my priority legislations, in my desire to finally allow the Bangsamoro electorate to exercise the constitutionally guaranteed right to choose and elect their leaders,” he said in a published report.
Districting delay complicates March polls
Garcia said that while the Comelec welcomed the passage of the Bangsamoro districting bill by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) on January 13, the timing created serious legal and logistical challenges for holding the elections on March 30.
The Comelec, he said, had set the March schedule on the assumption that a new districting law would be enacted as early as November or December 2025, allowing sufficient preparation time.
Under the law, the newly passed districting measure still requires signing by the Bangsamoro chief minister and will take effect 15 days after publication in the official gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.
Garcia noted that the Jan. 13 enactment also fell within the restrictive period of Republic Act 8198, or the Voter’s Registration Act, which prohibits the alteration of electoral boundaries within 120 days before an election. The delay, he said, constrains ballot printing, precinct configuration, and voter information campaigns.
Supreme Court rulings frame tight timeline
The Comelec scheduled the March 30, 2026 polls pursuant to a September 30, 2025 decision of the Supreme Court, which nullified Bangsamoro Autonomy Acts (BAAs) 77 and 58—the laws that previously served as the basis for the regional elections.
That ruling deferred the Congress-set October 13, 2025 BPE and ordered the BTA to pass a new districting law not later than October 30, 2025, while directing the Comelec to conduct the elections by March 31, 2026, at the latest.
The BTA, however, failed to meet the court-mandated deadline and was only able to enact a new districting law in a special session before dawn on Jan. 13—timing the Comelec described as “replete with legal and operational issues.”
Stakeholders push for elections within 2026
Despite the setbacks, election stakeholders in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)—including local and international poll-watch groups—have urged authorities to ensure that the BPE is held within the year, warning that repeated postponements continue to deprive residents of their right to elect regional leaders.
A history of repeated deferments
Under Republic Act 11054, or the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the first BPE was originally scheduled for 2022, alongside national and local elections. It was postponed after the BTA failed to pass the BARMM Election Code amid Covid-19 disruptions.
Congress later reset the elections to May 2025, then again to October 13, 2025, following a September 9, 2024 Supreme Court ruling that excluded Sulu from the BARMM core territory after a majority of its voters rejected inclusion in the 2019 plebiscite.
Sulu’s exclusion disrupted the configuration of BARMM’s 32 parliamentary districts, seven of which had been allocated to the island province. The BTA attempted to redistribute those seats through BAAs 77 and 58—both later struck down by the high court.
With the Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling nullifying the districting laws and the delayed enactment of a replacement measure, the region now faces a fourth reset of its first-ever parliamentary elections—once again pushing back the transition from appointed to elected leadership in the Bangsamoro.
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BARMM polls likely postponed again as legal, logistical hurdles persist
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