Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua had asked the regional legislature to hold a caucus to determine the successor for the late Speaker Pangalian Balindong, who died on Oct. 3, leaving a permanent vacancy in his office. ‘I have already instructed the senior leaders of the BTA (Bangsamoro Transition Authority) to hold a caucus and decide who will be the next Speaker,’ Macacua told reporters.
‘Let us allow the majority of the BTA to decide; we will wait,’ he added.
Member of Parliament (MP) Naguib Sinarimbo said under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the chief minister may call for a special session to elect a new Speaker of the parliament when the incumbent is incapacitated.
The 80-member parliament is currently in recess, supposedly for the Oct. 13 regional election, which has since been reset for next year.
The Supreme Court had set the polls for not later than March 31 next year, as it tasked the parliament to craft a new law creating 32 parliamentary districts, also not later than Oct. 30 this year. Jamaleah Lao Benito, head of the BTA’s public information unit, said that as of Tuesday, Macacua has not yet called for a special session.
Following the high court’s edict, the parliament has practically three weeks left to come up with such a measure.
‘We have not received any advisory for a special session; we will just wait,’ Benito told the Inquirer.
Macacua, who is also an MP, stated that the regional government is determined to pass a new law on parliamentary districts as directed by the Supreme Court.
‘We will pass the enabling law within the period set by the highest court,’ he said.
In its Sept. 30 ruling, the high court junked the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) No. 77 for, among others, having been passed way after the election period had set in. The court also declared its predecessor measure, BAA 58, as inadequate for the election of MPs based on districts because it was crafted with Sulu province still part of the BARMM.
A prior high court ruling declared Sulu as not part of the autonomous region because the majority of its voters rejected the BOL in a 2019 plebiscite.
Lawyer John Rex Laudiangco, Commission on Elections spokesperson, said the poll body is optimistic the BTA can come up with new legislation ‘because we are running out of time.’
‘The new legislation is vital in the preparation of the Comelec because we need to inform the electorate which district and whose candidates they will choose from,’ Laudiangco said in a radio interview here.
The death of Balindong comes at a crucial time for the BARMM parliament, creating a big void in its leadership.
‘During the crucial years of the BTA, his leadership helped lay the foundation of our government. His life’s work and commitment to justice and service will continue to inspire us as we carry forward the struggle for lasting peace in our homeland,’ Deputy Speaker Omar Yasser Sema said of Balindong.
Meanwhile, Education Minister and MP Mohaqher Iqbal is suspicious about moves to delay the first parliamentary elections in the region and have it coincide with the 2028 general elections.