Under our country’s election laws, a scheduled election exercise can be postponed, cancelled or reset to another date. Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code empowers the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to decide whether or not to postpone any scheduled election if there is any widespread acts of violence or terrorism or force majeure.
Two scheduled elections were reset one after the other, though not due to any of the three reasons.
At our Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia cited this amid issues on the resetting of two elections originally scheduled for later this year. A veteran election lawyer before he was appointed to head the seven-man poll body, Garcia conceded this Comelec’s mandate to other acts of three co-equal branches of the government. Supposedly an independent constitutional body, the Comelec though has no other option but to comply.
On the same day of our Kapihan news forum, the Supreme Court (SC) handed down its ruling as final and executory to postpone the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Parliament elections. From Oct.13, or next Monday, the SC ordered the Comelec to hold it not later than March 2026.
On the other hand, it was the 19th Congress that postponed the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) slated originally on Dec.1 this year. Under Republic Act (RA) 12232 signed by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. (PBBM), it will be held instead on the first Monday of November 2026 – which falls on Nov. 2.
A very compelling opinion piece about the SC ruling on the BARMM Parliament elections was published by the Mindanao Varsitarian, the official publication of the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City. It was written by Al-sulkry Abdullatif who, from his Facebook account, is a young man in his 20’s and a student at MSU.
More or less, the young writer reflected much of the sentiments of the BARMM people, especially youth leaders like him. Here it goes:
‘The SC’s ruling that Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 58 and its replacement, BAA 77, are unconstitutional is a hard reset that the BARMM badly needed. What many feared – that the inaugural parliamentary elections of the region would be marred by political machinations – has now been confirmed by the country’s highest court.
‘BAA 58, passed in 2023, sought to redraw parliamentary districts within BARMM. Critics argued that it was riddled with irregularities and unfairly favored political interests. BAA 77, passed in 2024 to replace it, was supposed to correct those flaws but instead retained the same gerrymandering patterns, cementing suspicions that both measures were crafted for political expediency rather than genuine representation.
‘Let’s be honest: These laws were never about empowering the Bangsamoro people. BAA 58 and BAA 77 were hurriedly crafted to redraw parliamentary districts in a way that reeked of political expediency. The timing, the process and the intent all pointed one way – narrow, self-interested agendas. In short, these were not the people’s laws, but politicians’.
‘To those who bled and cried to gain the right to self-governance, this is a bitter betrayal. BARMM was the result of decades of struggle, negotiations towards peace and untold lives lost. To watch its first elections be reduced to a gerrymandering game is a mockery of that legacy.
‘The SC’s directive to delay the polls until March 2026 is not a setback – it is a safeguard. It prevents the region’s democratic foundations from being built on rotten ground. After all, what is the purpose of conducting elections on time if the rules themselves are unconstitutional? That would not be a celebration of democracy, but its parody.
‘Comelec Chairman George Garcia put it best: ‘It’s back to zero for Comelec.’ And it is indeed. But this ‘zero’ is also an opportunity to get things right. The ball is now in the hands of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA)’s court and it has until Oct. 30, 2025 to come up with a constitutional, legitimate and transparent apportionment of seats. The BTA cannot afford to fail in this task.
‘Critics would say that another extension negates the people’s mandate. But let us not mistake speed with progress. If another year is the price of having fair and credible elections, then so be it. The Bangsamoro was not constructed to be a playground for dynasties. It was constructed to give back dignity and representation to a people long denied the same.
‘Let there be no doubt: ‘Better a delayed election built on legitimacy than a rushed one built on betrayal.’
‘This decision is also a warning to politicians – within and outside the region – that the peace process is not theirs to play games with. The fruits of autonomy are not politicking chips for survival. They are the hard-won fruit of collective sacrifice, and they must be fiercely defended.
‘Let us be clear: gerrymandering is thievery. It is the stealthy stealing of voices, the cutting of communities into shreds for the exclusive advantage of the few. And in the Bangsamoro, where lives were taken to ensure self-determination, this theft is unthinkable.
‘The Bangsamoro people have waited decades for representation and justice. They can wait a few months more if it means their first parliament shall be founded on legitimacy, not treachery. The SC has acted. Now it is time for the BTA to do the same – with transparency, candor and with the people as the focal point of every decision.
‘And to those who spearheaded BAA 58 and BAA 77 through the cracks of authority: recall that this decision is not merely a judicial setback. It is a public rebuke. It says to the Bangsamoro people, ‘Your struggle is not for sale.’
‘The message is clear: you cannot hijack the Bangsamoro dream for personal ambition. You cannot steal peace bought at the price of blood. You cannot re-draw the map of sacrifice to suit your ambition.
‘The voice of the people has been heard. Now, accountability must follow. #Bangsamoro’