“Since as mandated by the decision, we fixed the date of election on March 30, 2026, this will now run counter to the prohibition mentioned and the provision of the law.”
— Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia
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MANILA, January 13, 2026 (SDN) — Here’s the score: Lanao del Sur — 9 seats; Maguindanao del Norte — 5 seats; Maguindanao del Sur — 5 seats; Basilan — 4 seats; Tawi-Tawi — 4 seats; Cotabato City — 3 seats; Special Geographic Area (SGA) — 2 seats. A total of 32 districts.
Here’s how the voting went — Yes, 48; No, 19; Abstention, 4.
So, that’s how it works as a collective puts their minds to it — a commendable undertaking as the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament led by Speaker Ustadhz Mohammad S. Yacob was able to pass the much-sought after Bangsamoro Districting Law, the Parliament Bill (PB) No. 415). It’s a Supreme Court requirement before the holding of the thrice-postponed historic first parliamentary elections can be held in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Let’s hope no more petitions opposing it would be lodged at the Supreme Court so that the Bangsamoro region’s first-ever regular election’s would finally see the light of day.
The authors of the bill: Members of the Parliament (MPs) Naguib G. Sinarimbo, Kitem Kadatuan, Jr., Tomanda Antok, Alindatu Pagayao, Ibrahim Ibay, Butch Malang, Abdulbasit Benito, Mar-arouph Candao, Amer Zakaria Rakim, and Alirakim Munder. Co-authors: MPs Dan Asnawie, Akmad Abas, and Susana Anayatin.
Now, what remains is the signature of BARMM interim Chief Minister Abdulraof A. Macacua, which is expected. He earlier certified the bill as “urgent” and called on Yacob to hold a special session solely for the bill’s deliberation and eventual passing.
SDN – SciTech & Digital News reached out to three of the MPs, lawyers Nabil Tan, Sinarimbo and Rasol Mitmug, Jr., for a word or two on the bill.
Tan’s and the other members of the Parliament’s Sulu Block’s “Yes” votes, whichever one looks at it, have proved truly crucial. Without their “Ayes”, the Parliament may have stumbled.
Why? Hearing it from MP Tan, a true statesman and gentleman, would sum up why the regional Legislative Body got it going. The magnitude of the significance of the Sulu Block’s vote embedded in every word of his explanatory remarks.
“I vote YES (underscoring is his) to this bill because without this, we cannot have the first parliamentary election. Without elections, there can be no legitimate and peaceful transition.
“This measure is not merely a technical or a point of geographical configuration, it is a machinery that enables us to operate the legal backbone of our democratic process in the Bangsamoro. To add, this is also a law that will allow us to exercise our autonomy,” Tan, a veteran lawmaker and a peacemaker to boot, emphasizes.
Comelec raises question on feasibility of March 30, 2026, parliamentary polls
If there’s any apprehensions on account of perceived “gerrymandering” as some critics may claim, MP Sinarimbo quashed any doubts in a message to SDN.
A former minister of the BARMM’s Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILF) for nearly six years, here’s what he assured.
“(PB Bill No.) 415 addresses the areas where the SC (Supreme Court) has made pronouncement, albeit not final yet given the MR (Motion for Reconsideration), on gerrymandering.”
Let’s hear him explain what kind of an animal is “gerrymandering”.
“Gerrymandering in the US (United States) jurisprudence is the deliberate and intentional clustering of political subdivisions so as to favor a specific candidate or party. So, contiguity, or the lack of it, is not by itself proof of gerrymandering. One must also prove that the same was resorted to as to favor a specific candidate or party,” he explains.
It can be recalled the Supreme Court on September 30, 2025, thrashing Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) Nos. 58 and 77 as it declared the two districting laws “unconstitutional” and directed the BTA to come up with a new law that complies with constitutional and national law requirements.
Thus, the frantic race to legislate such bill finally came to reality on January 13 in the special session that stretched from past 2 p.m. on January 12 to pass 1 a.m. the next day. Obviously, credit should go to the leadership of the Parliament, the MPs, and the BARMM under Macacua, chief of staff of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front – Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (MILF-BIAF).
But not so fast about the election. there’s now a big “IF”: Is the March 30 parliamentary polls feasible even after the districting law is signed by the chief minister?
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) through Chairman George Erwin Garcia has a point to make as SDN – SciTech & Digital News learned.
Apparently, the poll body is placed between the devil and the blue sea, so to speak.
“We are now confronted with strong legal and operational issues as to whether the conduct of the first Bangsamoro parliamentary election is still feasible by March 30. Since there is no law yet fixing the date of the election, at this point, the same is still a question mark. We, however, commend the Bangsamoro Parliament for the giant step of finally passing this important piece of legislation. Of course, it has to still be signed by the Chief Minister (Macacua) and to hurdle the Effectivity Clause. Overall, our hope is eternal,” says Garcia.
The Comelec’s worry flows from the Supreme Court emphasizing the importance of the 120 days prohibition on “redistricting before the election.”
“Since as mandated by the decision, we fixed the date of election on March 30, 2026, this will now run counter to the prohibition mentioned and the provision of the law,” Comelec’s chief emphasizes.
From MP Mitmug’s reaction, let’s hear “415” won over the five other versions of the bill.
“What I know is that the reason why PB Bill No. 415 was chosen is that it really focused on three areas where there was a problem, such as Cotabato City, Kapay-Tagoloan (in Lanao del Sur), and Kabuntalan area (in Sultan Mastura),” he explains to SDN.
“If you look at the other bills (on districting), the formula was the same for all except on bill where Basilan has 5 districts and SGA with 1.”
“The goal is to correct and come up with a bill that won’t have any problem like last time with the Supreme Court.”
Mitmug said even the Parliament’s Sulu Block indicated positive signals so there would be no more problem with the bill.
Closest to complying with the Supreme Court requirements on legal and constitutional concerns — Sinarimbo
Going back to MP Tan, he cited the importance of the people of the Bangsamoro as they deserve a government that they choose through the power of the ballot, through “an orderly, credible, and timely election.”
He emphasized that he is aware of the pain that some may have felt (in their hearts) over the deletion of the provision from BTA Bill No. 415 about Sulu’s re-inclusion in the Bangsamoro region.
“That wound is real and it is felt. But today, we are called not only to defend our individual provinces, but to preserve the peace process itself. The question of Sulu’s representation is not surrendered, it is merely deferred. It is a fight for another time, and in another venue: in the courts, in the national Congress, and in the continuing struggle for justice.”
With these words, those present during the sessions may have noticed how the Sulu MPs’ voice may have cracked, for there’s no denying he loves his province and his people. But today, statesmanship was called for. And he delivered.
“We do not abandon Sulu by voting Yes today, we protect the larger peace so that Sulu will still have a Bangsamoro to return to,” he says, spoken like an unselfish lawmaker aware of the big picture and preserving it for the future.
“We this understanding, I cast my YES vote for a meaningful election, for peace, and for the continuity of the Bangsamoro.”
PB No. 415 is also known as “An Act Providing for the Apportionment of Parliamentary District Representative Seats in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao”.
Parliament had received six bills on districting such as PB Nos. 403, 407, 408, 411, 415, and 416, but the rest were archived after “415” was selected by the MPs.
Sinarimbo, chairman of the Parliament’s Committee on Local Government, said PB
Committee on Local Government Chair Naguib Sinarimbo said PB No. 415, as cited by the BTA, was approved because it directly addresses three key areas highlighted by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional: the district configuration(s) in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and Cotabato City.
“The committee carefully adjusted these districts to ensure they are contiguous, compact, and adjacent, fully complying with the Court’s guidance,” Sinarimbo assures. And closest to complying with the Supreme Court requirements on legal and constitutional concerns.
Meanwhile, the MILF under Chairman Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim reportedly cast a No vote on PB No. 415, according to one of its sitting MP in Parliament.
Another “No” vote was cast by MP Omar Yasser C. Sema, who represents the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)-Sema Group in the Parliament.
He explained reason for casting a negative vote, saying it was his expression of his “indignation of the violation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement being implemented during the transition period under the 2014 CAB (Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro), specifically against the disavowal of the effort to preserve the gains of the peace process that started decades ago.”
MP Sema said he cast a No vote not against the bill “but to reject the distribution of the 7 district seats alloted for Sulu.”
On January 8, Assistant Secretary Jordan S. Bayam, executive director, Office of the Bangsamoro Transformation Cluster at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU-OBTC), appealed to the Parliament solons to pass the districting bill as “moral obligation” of the BTA. — EDD K. USMAN (/)
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The author
EDD, a native of Sub-Saharan Africa Buluan/Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, BARMM, college at UST, is a Manila-based journalist for over 40 years (33 years with Manila Bulletin), has five Media Awards (1 with University of the Philippines (UP) 2017 Science Journalism Award), covered and traveled over 40 times abroad), has contributed to Rappler, Business Mirror, Manila Business Insights, Panorama Magazine, Agriculture Magazine, and others, former Manila-based Foreign Correspondent of Saudi Arabia newspapers Saudi Gazette and Riyadh Daily, and The Peninsula (Qatar newspaper), with 2008 East-West Center (EWC) Journalism Seminar in the United States, 2000 Executive IT Seminar in Seoul, South Korea, with three Silver Awards in Photography, writes Muslim and Current Affairs, Enterprise, Science, Tech, Products Launch, and virtually everything under Heaven. (®)