Bangsamoro: Supreme Court suspends elections (again)

The Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) suspended the first parliamentary elections in the Muslim-majority region on 13 October 2025, after a court ruling temporarily restrained the election law over seat distribution. Now the election date is uncertain, but it is up to Congress to decide any further postponement.

Manila (AsiaNews) – The Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) has put on hold for the third time the first elections in the Bangsamoro Muslim Autonomous Region (BAMM), scheduled for 13 October. Initially, the pole was set to take place in 2022.

The decision comes after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO), blocking the implementation of the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) No. 77, which redistributes seats in the assembly.

“Today, the Comelec en banc, in compliance with the temporary restraining order issued yesterday by the Supreme Court, is suspending preparations for the conduct of the elections on October 13,” said Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia at a press conference.

The Court ordered the consolidation of two appeals challenging BAA No. 77, thereby suspending the law until a final resolution of the two cases.

When asked whether the elections will still be held, Garcia responded that the situation remains uncertain. “Up to the present, because of the suspension, the Comelec cannot answer yet if there will be elections on October 13,” he said, noting that the date is a prerogative of Congress.

The Bangsamoro legislature had 80 seats, but Sulu province was excluded from the count by a Supreme Court ruling and its seven seats were removed, reducing the assembly to 73 members under the previous BAA No. 58, raising doubts about whether the elections would be held.

With the approval of BAA No. 77, which reintroduces the 80-seat assembly, the situation became more complicated. Comelec had expressed doubts about the possibility of implementing the legislation in a timely manner, with Garcia explaining that 2.3 million ballots had already been printed based on the 73-seat configuration.

If the TRO is lifted, the Commission would have to reprint the ballots and recalibrate the computer system to accommodate the 80 polling stations, a process that would take three weeks, in addition to renewing the contract for the rental of the electronic counting machines.

“We need an additional budget. Why? We need to reprint ballots. If the parliament amends the BAA 77 to change the formula in districting, there will be refiling of candidacy and another reprinting of ballots,” Garcia said.

Conversely, if the Supreme Court were to declare BAA No. 77 unconstitutional, BAA No. 58 would automatically be reinstated, allowing the 73-seat structure to stay in place.

• philippines
• bangsamoro
• elections
• supreme court
• seats
• election commission
• comelec