All winners of first BARMM parliamentary polls proclaimed —Comelec

All winning candidates in the first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections have been proclaimed, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Thursday.

“Last Tuesday ng gabi, lahat ng 80 seats [na proclaim na],” Comelec chairperson George Garcia told GMA News Online.

(All the winning candidates in the Bangsamoro parliamentary election were proclaimed on Tuesday evening.)

The Bangsamoro parliament has 80 seats: 40 for party representatives, 32 for district representatives, and 8 for sectoral representatives.

Of the 40 seats allocated for party representatives, the Bangsamoro Federal Party (BFP) secured 16, while the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) won 15.

The BARMM Grand Coalition won eight seats, while Raayat Democratic Party got one seat, according to the Comelec canvass report for the Regional Parliamentary Political Party.

For the 32 district representative seats, nine are designated to Lanao del Sur, five each to Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur, four each to Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, three to Cotabato City, and two to the Special Geographic Area (SGA).

Candidates from the Bangsamoro Federalist Party (BFP) secured the most parliamentary district seats, with 17 posts.

This was followed by the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) with seven secured posts and the Serbisyong Inklusibo-Alyansang Progresibo Party (SIAP Party) with six.

Candidates under the Bangsamoro Peoples Democratic Party (Pro Bangsamoro) and Al-Ittihad Ummah Kalim Bangsamoro (ITIHAD) got one seat each.

BARMM Interim Chief Minister Macacua, who previously ran as an independent candidate, secured the Maguindanao del Norte Third District representative seat.

Before the election, Macacua joined BFP, where he was named chairman.

Garcia on Wednesday urged the newly elected members of the BARMM parliament to be instruments of peace, justice, and progress that the region has been envisioning, following its first parliamentary elections.

“Sa mga bagong halal na miyembro ng parlyamento: Ipinagkatiwala sa inyo ng mamamayan ang boto nilang pinagbuwisan ng dugo, panahon, at pananampalataya,” Garcia said.

“Nawa’y maging karapat-dapat kayo sa makasaysayang pagkakataong ito, at maging instrumento ng kapayapaan, katarungan, at kaunlarang matagal nang ipinaglalaban ng Bangsamoro,” he added.

(To the newly elected members of the Parliament: The people have entrusted you with their votes, which came at the cost of blood, time, and faith. May you prove worthy of this historic opportunity and become instruments of peace, justice, and progress that the Bangsamoro have long fought for.)

The BARMM held its first parliamentary elections on Monday, September 14, with a final voter turnout of 84.34%.

The turnout represented 2,018,478 voters out of the region’s 2.393 million registered voters.

The 80 newly elected Parliament members will assume office on October 30 and elect the region’s chief minister. The first elected officials will serve a five-year term until June 30, 2031. —VAL, GMA News