Editor’s Note: Comelec Executive Session Resolution attached in last part of this story.
Short link: https://wp.me/paaccn-Snc
MANILA, September 17, 2025 (SDN) — In compliance with the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order (TRO) on Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) No. 77, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) under Chair George Erwin M. Garcia paused effective today, Wednesday, all preparations for the inaugural regional parliamentary polls in the country.
The poll body conducted an Executive Session with Garcia and all the commissioners in attendance, such as Commissioner Aimee P. Ferolino, Commissioner Rey E. Bulay, Commissioner Ernesto Ferdinand P. Maceda, Jr., Commissioner Nelson J. Celis, Commissioner Maria Norina S. Tangaro-Casingal, and Commissioner Noli R. Pipo.
They tackled the TRO the Supreme Court issued on September 15 in relation with the petitions G.R. No. E-02219 and G.R. No. E42235 concerning the first parliamentary polls in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Lifted from the minutes of the poll body’s Executive Session, here’s part of it:
“Thus, the Commission, after due deliberation, RESOLVED, as it hereby RESOLVES, to ADOPT the recommendation of the Bangsamoro Study Group and the Law Department as follows:
“1. PAUSE the effectivity ot the 27 August 2025 En Banc Minute Resolution;
“2. SUSPEND all preparations for district, sectoral, and party representative elections in the BARMM until the Supreme Cou( lifts the Temporary Restraining Order or resolves the validity of BAA No. 77 on the merits;
and
“3. DIRECT the Law Department to coordinate with the Office of the Solicitor General for the filing of the Commission’s Extremely Urgent Manifestation in Compliance to the Temporary Restraining Order issued
on 15 September 2025.
“Let the Office of the Executive Director and Project Management Office for BARMM Parliamentary Election implement this Resolution.
“Further, direct the Education and lnformation Department to cause the widest dissemination of this Minute Resolution in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
“SO ORDERED.”
The Comelec noted that the TRO of the High Court has clearly enjoined it from the BAA No. 77’s implementation, “which the Commission is duty-bound to enforce for the 2025 BPE.” (BPE stands for Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections.)
It added that the TRO arising from G.R. No. E-02219 and G.N. No. 02235 has effectively stopped the Commission from holding election activities starting receipt on September 16 pending the Supreme Court’s order.
“The apparent, immediate, and practical result of the TRO is that, as of its effectivity, there is currently no clear statutory authority for the election of parliamentary district representatives in BARMM. The Commission is thus without clear legal bases to organize or conduct elections for the district representative positions pending the Court’s final resolution,” the poll body says.
Note that since the Supreme Court’s removal of the province of Sulu from the Bangsamoro region in 2024 that made it leave behind its seven district seats, the issue of the parliamentary district seats has been a bone of contention. Now it has reached the nation’s sole arbiter of laws. — EDD K.U. (/)
Here’s the Comelec Executive Session Resolution issued Wednesday, September 17, 2025. Signatories removed to hide their signatures as requested: