The Commission on Elections will start from scratch in preparing for the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections after the Supreme Court struck down two laws that redrew the region’s parliamentary districts.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said Thursday, October 2, the body must reprint ballots and reconfigure its automated election system following the high court’s decision declaring two Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) laws unconstitutional.
In a September 30 ruling, the Supreme Court nullified Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 77 and 58, which redistributed the elective posts originally assigned to Sulu and created the parliamentary districts in the region. This means that there is now no actual law to enforce for the Bangsamoro polls, which had been initially set for October 13.
“The truth is the Comelec is now back to zero,” Garcia said in an interview on Radyo DZBB. “Bakit po back to zero? We will surely reprint ballots and have to redo our other activities.”
Garcia said, however, the ruling validated the Comelec’s decision to suspend election preparations when the court earlier issued a temporary restraining order.
The Supreme Court ruling means the Bangsamoro parliament must pass a new districting law. The Comelec also has until March 31, 2026, to hold the elections.
What Comelec had prepared
Comelec had based its preparations on BAA 58, the original districting law that included Sulu. The Supreme Court previously ruled Sulu was not part of BARMM, reducing the parliament from 80 to 73 members. The latest ruling says the parliament should have 80 members, not 73.
Before the suspension of preparations, Garcia said, the Comelec still needed to conduct voter education campaigns to explain which districts people would vote in and train electoral board members – the teachers who will staff polling places on election day. The poll body also had yet to deploy election equipment and train technical staff for the automated elections.
Garcia said voter registration will resume in the third week of October nationwide for the May 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
But those who registered from August 1 to 10 and those who register starting in October will not be able to vote in the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections if held before March 31, 2026.
“Why? Because the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections are a continuation of our national and local elections last May,” Garcia said.
The Bangsamoro parliamentary elections were supposed to be the region’s first since BARMM replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 2019.
The Bangsamoro Organic Law set the first elections in 2022, but this was postponed to May 2025, and then to October 2025, and is now put off again pending a new law.