Comelec to hold special session for possible 2025 BARMM polls reset

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to hold a special en banc session to discuss the possible postponement of the 2025 Bangsamoro elections, poll chief George Erwin Garcia said Thursday. 

Citing force majeure, Garcia said the Comelec may invoke Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) as it may now be “legally” and “factually impossible” to conduct the October 13 parliamentary polls following the Supreme Court (SC)’s issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the implementation of a Bangsamoro Act that reallocated the seven parliamentary districts previously assigned to Sulu.

“Ang Comelec ngayong araw ay magkakaroon ng pagpupulong sapagkat may na-irecommend sa atin ang Project Management Office (PMO) at law department na kung saan sabi nila mukhang dapat ay mapag-isipan na ang postponement of the elections,” Garcia told reporters at the sidelines of the dialogue-forum on the 1st BARMM Parliamentary Elections in Makati. 

(The Comelec will hold a session today due to a recommendation from the PMO and law department that we may start considering the postponement of the polls.)

“Ang postponement ay hindi dapat ikabahala ng lahat sapagkat nasa OEC yan. Isa [ito] sa mga pinagkatiwala ng Kongreso na pwede gawin ng Comelec, lalo na kung may terorismo, violence, force majeure, upang ipagpaliban ang halalan. At hindi ito indefinite kasi may nakalagay na 30-day period matapos ng ground or cessation of the event. Ibig sabihin, pwede namin yun ma-avail para lang matapos ang uncertainty at para mapag-usapan kung kailan,” he said. 

(The postponement is not something to worry about because this is in accordance with the OEC. The Congress allowed the Comelec to postpone elections due to terrorism, violence, force majeure or other reasons. But this is not indefinite; it should be suspended not later than 30 days from the cessation of the event. This means we can avail of this to end the uncertainty of the polls.)

Last week, the Comelec said it remains “uncertain” if the BARMM polls will proceed on October 13 as it suspended its preparations in light of the SC TRO enjoining the poll body, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), and all persons acting under their authority from implementing the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. (BAA) 77, pending the final resolution of the case.

BAA No. 77 or the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Act of 2025 amended BAA No. 58 and redistricted the vacant seats in light of an SC decision excluding Sulu from the autonomous region.

“Napakalawak ng ibig sabihin ng force majeure. ‘Yung basta hindi mo ine-expect na bigla na lang nangyari ang isang bagay na nakapagprevent sa paggawa ng action na dpat mong gagawin. Pwede namin i-consider yung mga bagay-bagay lalo na ang sa na-issue na TRO o ‘yung mismong pending case kasi hindi namin alam anong batas ipapatupad sa October 13. Hindi ba force mejeure yun?,” said Garcia. 

(Force majeure has a broad definition as long as it is an unexpected event that forces an action to be withheld. So we can consider the TRO or the pending case because now, we do not know which law to implement for the polls. Isn’t that a case of force majeure?)

“Hindi namin alam kung ang ipapatupad ba natin ay BAA 58 ganung maliwanag na ito ay ni-repeal ng BAA 77. Ang problema ang BAA 77 na dapat ipapatupad ng Comelec ay na-TRO ng SC. Ano ang aming ipapatupad? Di ba yan ay legal impossibility? Dyan pa lang, sa aming palagay, pwede na pag-usapan ang postponement of the elections,” he added. 

(We’re not sure if we should implement BAA 58 when it is repealed by BAA 77. The problem was SC issued a TRO against BAA 77. So what should we use as a basis? That is a legal impossibility.)

Section 5 of the OEC states that “when for any serious cause such as violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous causes of such a nature that the holding of a free, orderly and honest election should become impossible in any political subdivision, the Commission, motu proprio or upon a verified petition by any interested party, and after due notice and hearing, whereby all interested parties are afforded equal opportunity to be heard, shall postpone the election therein to a date which should be reasonably close to the date of the election not held, suspended or which resulted in a failure to elect but not later than 30 days after the cessation of the cause for such postponement or suspension of the election or failure to elect”. 

BARMM polls

The first-ever Bangsamoro elections was reset from May 12 to October 13, 2025 after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in February, signed into law the measure postponing the first-ever parliamentary elections. 

The suspension came months after the SC, in September 2024, upheld the validity of the Bangsamoro Organic Law but declared that Sulu was not part of BARMM. The Court denied motions seeking the reversal of the decision in November 2024.

The SC ruling necessitated the redistribution of the seven vacated seats originally allocated to Sulu under the Bangsamoro Electoral Code. The BTA issued BAA 77 in August but Comelec said it will not implement the law due to “lack of material time” for the preparations.—LDF, GMA Integrated News