Printing of official ballots for BARMM polls starts Aug. 24, 2025 — Comelec

The Commission on Elections Monday that it is already in the final stages of preparations for the Bangsamoro parliamentary polls in October as the printing of the official ballots will begin on August 24. 

“Kami po ay nasa huling yugto na ng paghahanda dahil po iyong ating aspeto ng teknikal, iyong atin pong aspeto ng mga pagsu-supply ay ready na po tayo. In fact, sa August 24 po ay magsisimula na ang Comelec sa pamamagitan ng National Printing Office ng pag-imprenta ng halos nasa 2.215 million na official ballots,” said Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing.

(We are now in the final stages of preparation because our technical and supply aspects are ready. In fact, this August 24, Comelec, through the National Printing Office, will begin printing almost 2.215 million official ballots.) 

“Ang atin pong sistema ay tuluy-tuloy na ginagawa ... so local source code ay ready na. Natapos na rin po natin ang field testing at ang mock elections at lahat po ito ay successful,” he added. 

(Our system is continuously being developed, so the local source code is ready. We've also completed field testing and mock elections, and all of them were successful.) 

“So, bukod po sa pag-iimprenta ng balota, ang kasunod na po naming gagawin diyan ay ang training ng ating electoral boards at iyong deployment na lamang po – iyan na po ang mga huling natitirang paghahanda ng Comelec. So, malinaw ang mensahe po, tuloy na tuloy ang October 13 BARMM Parliamentary Elections,” Laudiangco also said. 

(So, aside from printing the ballots, our next steps will be the training of our electoral boards and then deployment – those are the only remaining preparations for Comelec. Thus, the message is clear: the October 13 BARMM Parliamentary Elections will definitely push through.) 

Mock elections in Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi

The Comelec conducted mock elections last July 26 in several areas in Lanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi in preparation for the first ever parliamentary polls in the region on October 13. The voting started at 7 a.m. and ended at 10 a.m. 

Only 73 seats will be up for grabs in the October elections as the seven seats previously allocated to Sulu are considered temporarily vacant.

The Comelec, however, said that there is no development yet regarding the possibility of redistribution of the allocated seats for Sulu. 

“Sabi nga po namin kung maidi-distribute iyong pito ay parang bonus na lamang po ito, karagdagang representation, walang maiiwan sa representasyon sa BARMM. Pero ang sabi nga po namin, kung hindi na po kami makapaghihintay pa beyond July 30 dahil ang katumbas po nito ay baka mabalam ang aming paghahanda at hindi pa matuloy ang October 13,” said Laudiangco.

(As we said, if the seven are distributed, it would be like a bonus, additional representation, no one would be left out in the representation for BARMM. But as we also said, we couldn't wait beyond July 30 because the equivalent of that would be a delay in our preparations and the October 13 elections might not push through.) 

“So, kaysa po ma-imperil iyong ating October 13 BARMM Parliamentary Elections tuloy na pong halalan doon sa 25 na district representatives at apatnapu na regional, political party representatives po.” 

(So, rather than imperil our October 13 BARMM Parliamentary Elections, the elections for the 25 district representatives and forty regional, political party representatives will push through.) 

The Supreme Court 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. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News