Comelec: BARMM polls may be postponed if no redistricting law passed

The first-ever Bangsamoro parliamentary election may be postponed anew if there is no new redistricting law passed by the end of the month, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.

The Comelec initially set the Bangsamoro polls on March 30, 2026 as it released the calendar of activities for the inaugural parliamentary elections. 

“If that will happen, we will be forced to set aside our calendar of activities and which may lead to the further postponement of the BPE,” poll chief George Erwin Garcia told GMA News Online on Thursday.

Earlier, Garcia said the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) still has until November 30 to pass a new measure redistricting the seven seats previously assigned to Sulu.

This will still be in accordance to a Supreme Court (SC) order directing the BTA to pass a districting bill by October 30, 2025, he added.

“Pag pinag-aralan ang naging decision ng Korte Suprema, bagama’t may nakalagay na October 30 mayroong validity na hindi dapat lalagpas sa 120 days bago ang elections,” said Garcia.

(If we study the SC decision, they may still pass the bill 120 days before the elections.)

“Kung ang elections ay March 31, November 30 ang pinaka-deadline ng Bangsamoro. Maaaring lumagpas sa October 30 pero di pa naman lumalagpas sa pangalawang period na nilagay ng SC sa kaniyang decision,” he added.

In October, the SC ordered the postponement of the Bangsamoro elections originally scheduled on October 13 after it declared two districting laws – Bangsamoro Autonomy Acts (BAAs) 58 and 77 – by the autonomous government as unconstitutional.

The BAA 77, or the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Act of 2025, amended BAA 58 and redistricted the vacant seats in light of an SC decision excluding Sulu from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The SC also asked the BTA to pass a redistricting bill and directed the Comelec to continue its preparations and conduct the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections no later than March 31, 2026.

“We will do everything within our powers and existing laws to proceed with the election despite a delayed districting measure,” Garcia said.

Redistricting bill

Last week, a proposed measure seeking to create a 32 single-member parliamentary districts was filed in the Bangsamoro parliament.

Under Parliament Bill No. 415, the 32 districts would be distributed as follows: four districts in Basilan, nine in Lanao del Sur, five in Maguindanao del Norte, five in Maguindanao del Sur, four in Tawi-Tawi, two in Special Geographic Area, and three in Cotabato City.

The measure was the fifth proposed redistricting law filed with the chamber. It was introduced by Members of the Parliament Naguib Sinarimbo, Kitem Kadatuan Jr., Tomanda Antok, Alindatu Pagayao, Ibrahim Ibay, Butch Malang, Abdulbasit Benito, Maarouph Candao, Zaakaria Rakim, and Alirakim Munder.  

The proposed bill will now undergo committee deliberation alongside four previously filed districting proposals, which were already referred to the Committees on Rules and Local Government. — JMA, GMA Integrated News