The first-ever parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will not push through as scheduled on Oct. 13 after the Supreme Court (SC) declared as unconstitutional laws redistricting the BARMM.
The SC said the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 77 and other pertinent laws concerning the redistricting of the BARMM are unconstitutional.
‘There can be no BARMM elections on Oct. 13 because of the lack of a valid district law,’ the SC said.
The BAA 77 or the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Redistricting Act mandates the redistribution of seven parliamentary seats originally allocated to Sulu, while its predecessor law, the BAA 58, created parliamentary districts in the BARMM.
The high court granted a consolidated petition filed by Lanang Ali Jr. and Abdullah Macapaar against BARMM Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The SC said the BAA 77 is unconstitutional as it violated Section 5 of the Voter Registration Act, which prohibits any alteration of poll precincts once the election period has started.
The law was enacted by the BTA on Aug. 28. The election period started on Aug. 14.
The high tribunal said the BAA 77 also violated the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which mandates that each district should comprise adjacent and adjoining areas as far as practicable.
The SC said some local government units in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and Cotabato City were assigned to districts that were not contiguous or adjacent to LGUs.
The voiding of the BAA 77 did not revive the BAA 58 or the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Districts Act as it was based on an outdated framework after Sulu was removed from the Bangsamoro region, the SC said.
‘A new valid districting law must be passed consistent with the Bangsamoro Organic Law, national laws and the Constitution,’ the SC said.
The high tribunal directed the BTA to distribute the parliamentary seats by Oct. 30. It said the parliamentary election must be conducted not later than March next year.
The SC said the decision as immediately executory and deemed served upon posting and receipt through electronic means.
P1 billion needed for deferred BARMM elections
Meanwhile, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body would need another P1 billion for the rescheduled BARMM elections.
In an interview with ‘Storycon’ on One News yesterday, Garcia said the Comelec has yet to receive a copy of the SC ruling declaring BAAs 77 and 58 as unconstitutional.
He said the Comelec would not appeal the decision and would comply with the ruling.
Like in any other postponement, Garcia said rescheduling the BARMM elections would require an additional budget.
For the BARMM elections, about P1 billion of the P2.7 billion allocated to the Comelec had already been spent.
‘We will have to reprint all the ballots. We will have to conduct again a voter education campaign,’ Garcia said, adding it is now up to the BTA to come up with an issuance on the distribution of district parliamentary seats.
‘If the parliament is not able to come up with a law as prescribed in the decision, then all preparations will have to be moved again,’ Garcia said. ‘Our compliance will be dependent on the compliance of other agencies or instrumentalities of the government.’