The Commission on Elections might hold a manual parliamentary election for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in March, the Comelec said yesterday.
Comelec spokesman John Rex Laundiangco said the possibility comes after the Supreme Court ordered the poll body to hold the first parliamentary polls by March 31, 2026 – a schedule he described as tight.
‘The Comelec has prepared two contingency plans. We are studying the possibility of holding a manual election to comply with the Supreme Court decision,’ Laudiangco said during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing yesterday.
The second plan, he said, is for the Comelec to change the date, if there is really not enough time to do it in March.
Laudiangco said the Comelec believes that a manual election is feasible for BARMM residents to vote for a regional parliamentary political party and a district parliamentary representative.
The high court has given the Bangsamoro Transition Authority until Oct. 30 to come up with a new law on the redistricting of BARMM.
According to Laudiangco, the Comelec will be left with limited time to prepare if the law is crafted after Oct. 30.
The Supreme Court previously stopped the automated BARMM parliamentary vote set for Oct. 13 after declaring the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act Nos. 58 and 77 unconstitutional.