“(It) depends on which is declared unconstitutional. If the entire BEC, then I don’t think it is legally possible to hold elections in BARMM for lack of a legal framework. If only portion of the BEC, then it depends if such provision/s declared unconstitutional is/are substantial or not.”
— Lawyer Badr Ebus Salendab
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- EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News
MANILA (SDN) — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. (PBBM) wants the first parliamentary election in May 2025 in the Bangsamoro region to push through.
This is gleaned from his speech on Thursday, February 8, during the 17th Meeting of the National Government and Bangsamoro Government Inter-Governmental Relations Body (IGRB) held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), Pasay City, Metro Manila.
He warns against violence that may subvert the regional polls. The presidential warning is not a surprise. Remember that the Philippines, including the Bangsamoro region, has hardly had any political exercise that did not suffer from violence.
Past elections in the region, even before the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), had been hit by violence. The President does not want voters disenfranchised, thus his strong words addressed to BARMM leaders.
“On this, let me be blunt in my warning as it is what our people want: Let not one bullet disenfranchise one single ballot. After the elections, it will be a new chapter for BARMM,” the President emphasized.
He made clear the “interventions” (read: peace dividends) or fruits of the Bangsamoro peace process) being implemented by the BARMM leadership for the Bangsamoro people will serve as validation in the parliamentary election, the first for the regional autonomy.
BARMM Chief Minister Ahod B. “Al-Haj Murad” Ebrahim was at the meeting also, along with some Members of Parliament (MPs) and other Bangsamoro officials.
Unless there’s a second postponement, which looks unlikely, the BARMM election will be for the 80 members of the Bangsamoro Parliament.
Lawyer Naguib G. Sinarimbo, former head of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG), one of the enduring stalwarts of the Mindanao peace process, welcomed the President’s push for the parliamentary polls.
“The statement of PBBM on the holding of the first parliamentary election in the BARMM in 2025 is a welcome development as it ensures the democratic transition of the governance in the BARMM while remaining true to the provisions of the CAB,” he said in a message to SDN – SciTech & Digital News. “CAB” stands for the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
“I am also confident that the institutions in the BARMM are now strong enough to absorb the temporary shocks normally associated with democratic exercises such as elections in the region.” Sinarimbo was one of the founders of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Governing the BARMM is the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) for three years since 2019 under the governance leadership of the MILF headed by Chair Ebrahim. He was appointed Chief Minister by then President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
The BARMM has 15 primary ministries, each one implementing programs, projects, and services for their regional constituents. They are responsible for bringing down to the grassroots the “dividends of peace” after decades of the Mindanao war waged by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the MILF to force independence. They later accepted government’s offer of autonomy.
Before the May 2022 elections, the two chambers of Congress passed a law postponing what could have been the region’s first parliamentary polls. Marcos then re-appointed Ebrahim as Chief Minister for another three years, as well as new and old members of the BTA Parliament.
But observers noted that what could be a tricky hurdle is a petition filed by 15 Moro leaders in the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of some provisions of the Bangsamoro Electoral Code (BEC) passed by the Parliament and signed by Ebrahim on March 8. The BEC took effect on May 17.
What happens if some BEC provisions are ruled “unconstitutional” by the High Tribunal? Or the entire BEC? Has the Commission on Elections (Comelec) any contingency?
Lawyer Badr Ebus Salendab offered his opinion on the matter when contacted by SDN.
“(It) depends on which is declared unconstitutional. If the entire BEC, then I don’t think it is legally possible to hold elections in BARMM for lack of a legal framework. If only portion of the BEC, then it depends if such provision/s declared unconstitutional is/are substantial or not,” Salendab said, director general at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MENRE) of BARMM.
“If (the declaration is) substantial such that it defeats and affects the very essence of the BEC and parliamentary elections, then same with the first scenario, which is not possible to hold elections. If not substantial and, therefore, curable through a mere IRR (implementing rules and regulations), then it’s possible to hold elections. I don’t think Comelec can fill in substantial provisions of the BEC declared unconstitutional because that would defeat the essence of autonomy.”
Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia was interviewed on GMA7’s “Unang Balita” on Monday, February 12, mentioning voters’ registration in the BARMM.
“Imo-monitor po nating mabuti ‘yung registration natin d’yan sa Bangsamoro sapagkat for the first time meron po tayong eleksyon para sa Bangsamoro parliament ngayong darating na 2025,” the Comelec chief said.
The Comelec opened registration for an estimated three million new voters from February 12 to September 30, 2024.
Marcos urged Bangsamoro officials to respect the sanctity of the regional democratic process in the region, saying at the IGRB meeting that “Giving the vote to the people to choose their leaders is the logical follow-up to the grant of self-rule to your land.”
The Chief Executive strongly called on Bangsamoro leaders to ensure the parliamentary election’s success.
“Show the whole world that it is peaceful and credible. What gives me hope is the belief that you have prepared well. You are ripe and ready.”
While he was it, he reminded the Bangsamoro leaders of what transpired in the past.
“As we mark this historic day, let us never forget the debt we owe to those who perished during the long night, from all sides, brothers all, combatants and civilians, whose blood nourished the land so peace can finally bloom,” Marcos said.
“…we owe it to our children, and our grandchildren, that the horrors and the harrows of the past must never visit them again; that as brothers and sisters united under one nation, we can forge a better future in a kinder society where opportunities reward hard work, dreams come true, and peace with justice reigns,” the President added.
The Bangsamoro region, established in 2018 by the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), is made up of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the Special Geographic Area’s (SGA) 63 barangays or villages that voted “Yes” in a plebiscite in February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction.
According to the Philippine Atlas BARMM has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities: Basilan, 11 municipalities; Lanao del Sur, 39; undivided Maguindanao, 36; Sulu, 19; and Tawi-Tawi, 11. Its component cities are Cotabato (the regional center and capital) in Maguindanao; Lamitan in Basilan; and Marawi in Lanao del Sur. (✓)