International observers now in BARMM to help ensure a clean and orderly COC filing starting Monday.
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COTABATO CITY, November 3, 2024 (SDN) — The filing of Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the 73 district seats in the inaugural parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro region starts on Monday.
From the 73 winners, the winning regional party, the one with the majority, then selects the first regular chief minister.
Currently, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chair Ahod Balawag “Al-Haj Murad” Ebrahim is the appointed chief minister since 2019. He was appointed twice by then President Rodrigo R. Duterte, then President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in 2022.
Ebrahim is president of the MILF political wing, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the ruling party.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair George Erwin Garcia let this be known to the public, particularly to the residents of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The Comelec chief made the announcement today, Sunday, in an interview on Prime Media’s Teleradyo Serbisyo, saying only 73 seats for Members of the Parliament (MPs) are up for grabs, minus the seven seats allocated to the island province of Sulu.
“Filing of COC of the Bangsamoro starts tomorrow (Monday) up to November 9. I repeat, November 4 to 9 for those who will file as representative of every district of the parliament will begin tomorrow. We have already made preparations for that undertaking,” says Garcia.
Garcia said this happened because of the ruling of the Supreme Court in September that cut the province from the Bangsamoro region, which he emphasized is “immediately executory” and already implemented Sulu’s removal by the Commission.
It can be recalled the Supreme Court in a decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic V.F. Leonen ruled the 2018 Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) as “constitutional” while at the same time deciding Sulu was not part of the new autonomy in Mindanao.
“Again, I repeat, instead of 80 Members of Parliament, the Bangsamoro will now only have 73 because the seven (seats) for Sulu was already removed,” Garcia emphasizes.
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“Let us give them the time and also help them that the filing of COC will be orderly in the coming week.”
He explained that the BARMM will have two ballots come the May 12, 2025, midterm elections — for the national and the regional bets, assuring that Miru Systems’ machines can accommodate two ballots at the same time.
The Comelec chief said Bangsamoro voters will vote for the 73 parliamentary district representatives (MPs) and the regional party they prefer.
Without Sulu, the BARMM region is now comprised of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and Tawi-Tawi.
He explained further that the Supreme Court decision on Sulu prompted the Comelec to reset the COC filing in the Bangsamoro region from October 1 to 8 to November 4 to 9 to give the BARMM time to adjust and adapt to Sulu’s removal.
On the situation in the BARMM, which in the past had repeatedly experience election-related violence, the Comelec chief said they have augmented forces from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the areas considered “critical”.
The force augmentation is in response to the trouble in a municipality in the region during the filing of COC of local positions (not connected with the parliamentary polls). “But we are also preparing for the other municipalities,” he adds.
Garcia reiterated that the Bangsamoro is now very peaceful. “What people are saying that it is prone to violence because it is the Bangsamoro is wrong. That’s not true and, in fairness, to our countrymen in the Bangsamoro, the Bangsamoro has already transformed.”
“Let us give them the time and also help them that the filing of COC will be orderly in the coming week.”
He said filing of COC can be done at Bangsamoro Election Offices through the Comelec’s Provincial Offices from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Garcia asked prospective bets to come with their COCs already filled up to prevent a repeat of the incident during the October filing of COC that caused trouble.
Some areas for filing were transferred but the Comelec already announced it properly, he pointed out.
The Comelec chair also expressed the hope that those who will file COC do not bring too many supporters and that they will leave immediately after.
However, he said those who want to speak or be interviewed by members of the media will not be stopped.
Garcia revealed that many international observers have already arrived in the Bangsamoro region to help make sure the filing of COC will be clean and orderly.
Earlier, the Parliament of the BARMM issued a resolution asking Congress to extend the regional transition period for the second time. (♧)