On with the BARMM Parliament poll
From all indications, the election for the 80-man Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Parliament will take place as scheduled on May 12, 2025. The Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, sealed yesterday this fate by rejecting the appeals to reverse their Sept. 9 decision.
Just last week, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) disclosed that Malacañang Palace started already the review of the proposals to postpone anew the BARMM Parliament poll originally synchronized with the coming national and local elections (NLE).
The present 80-man Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will continue to function as the interim BARMM Parliament. But in order for the election to be postponed again, Republic Act (RA) 11054, or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) that created the BARMM in July 2018, must be amended. The Bangsamoro Parliament election was originally scheduled to be held on May 9, 2022.
The BARMM Parliament election was first postponed and was synchronized to May 12 next year. Then president Rodrigo Duterte approved its postponement and signed RA 11593 on Oct. 28, 2021. A few months after he took office, PBBM appointed a new set of BTA members that composed the present interim parliament.
Forty-nine BTA members were reappointed while 31 new members were named. The composition include 41 nominees from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and 39 government nominees were retained. The BTA is currently led by Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim, who is also the MILF chairman.
The ball is now in the court of the 19th Congress to reset the BARMM Parliament election for the nth time.
The SC ruling virtually threw a monkey wrench in the process. More than four years after it was filed, the SC handed down its decision upholding the petition to exclude Sulu from the BARMM while they affirmed the constitutionality of the BOL. The SC ruling, however, effectively leaves vacant the seven parliamentary district seats intended for Sulu. If these are not reapportioned by the BTA, there will only be 73 duly elected members of the supposedly 80-seat BARMM Parliament. Once elected, they will assume office on June 30 next year.
The 15-man
