On the September BARMM elections

Cotabato City—Almost a month from now, the first-ever parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are expected to take place.

On March 25, 2026, President Marcos signed Republic Act No. 12317, which rescheduled the four-time postponed first regular parliamentary elections in the BARMM. RA 12317 amended Section 13, Article XVI of RA 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

The Bangsamoro transition government was supposed to end in 2022, three years after the installation of the Bangsamoro autonomous government in 2019. However, some parties in the region begged the national government, then led by President Rodrigo Duterte, to extend the transition for several reasons. That original schedule was supposed to be synchronized with the presidential elections in May 2022.

Article continues after this advertisement

All officials of the transition government, to the present, are not elected; they were all appointed by the sitting president of the Philippines. The first batch of Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) members were appointed by Duterte. After the 2022 elections, Mr. Marcos appointed new members to replace those who had resigned to run for local electoral positions.

Then, in March 2025, then Interim Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim was removed from office. He was replaced by then Maguindanao del Norte governor-appointee, Abdulraof Macacua, in a controversial move believed to have been orchestrated by the regional interlocutors of Mr. Marcos. This political upheaval in the region was followed by the replacement of some ministers and members of the BTA with alleged Macacua supporters who had connections to the national government.

Some members of the BTA were also replaced, and among them were women. There are now only nine women members, in contrast to the previous BTA, with 16 women legislators.

The region’s first parliamentary elections had been postponed at least three times. The second attempt to reset the first-ever parliamentary elections in the region was in May 2025, supposedly to be held together with the midterm local elections nationwide.

Article continues after this advertisement

But this did not happen.

Instead, the next postponement was scheduled for Oct. 13, 2025, by virtue of RA 12123, signed by Mr. Marcos in early 2025.

Then, the Supreme Court prevented this from happening, declaring that the law passed by the BTA regarding the rearrangement of voting districts in the region, as well as other features of the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 77, was unconstitutional. BAA 77 was the basis for Congress to reset the date of the parliamentary elections in October 2025.

Article continues after this advertisement

BAA 77 included provisions that altered parliamentary districts and election precincts only after the election period had already started. It was passed quite hastily on Aug. 18, 2025, in the BTA, but the Commission on Elections had already declared a two-month election period starting on Aug. 15, 2025. The Supreme Court ruled that these provisions violated not only the Constitution and the BOL (regarding the reassignment of voting districts that were not contiguous with each other) but also the National Voter Registration Act.

Because the October 2025 parliamentary elections did not take place, the BTA once again worked on another bill that would address the infirmities in BAA 77, with Parliamentary Bill No. 415 serving as the basis for RA 12317, the law setting a “final” date for the first parliamentary elections in the BARMM this coming Sept. 14, 2026.

For many regional constituents, the postponements showed that the flawed BTA or Bangsamoro Autonomous Acts (BAA 77 and its predecessor BA 58) were intentionally passed to enable an extension of the term of the sitting appointive members of the BTA. This view is not based on thin air. A substantial number of BTA members are lawyers, and they are supposed to know what provisions in their proposed legislation could be cited as unconstitutional.

These postponements are widely believed to ensure the longevity of the terms of the present BTA members without an election. This allows them additional years to enjoy all the perks and privileges of being top-tier regional government officials entitled to a six-digit monthly salary, without being accountable to their people.

In addition, all BTA members are entitled to allocations ranging from P3 million to P4 million as the regional equivalent of the national legislators’ Countrywide Development Fund, otherwise known as pork barrel. These funds are intended for public consultations, activities supporting the development of legislation, and community projects benefiting the districts they represent. Were these funds really used for these purposes?

(More next week.)

—————-

Comments to rcguiam@gmail.com