Comelec to lift control over Buluan, Datu Odin Sinsuat for BARMM polls

GMA Network

2 days ago

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will recommend the lifting of its control over Buluan, Maguindanao del Sur and Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte for the 2025 Bangsamoro parliamentary elections, poll chief George Erwin Garcia said Wednesday.
Garcia made the remarks as the election period and the implementation of gun ban for the first-ever parliamentary polls start on Thursday, August 14, 2025, until October 28, 2025.
'In the meantime, ang sabi ng ating Commissioner-in-charge Aimee Ferolino, sa pagsisimula [ng campaign period] ire-rekomenda muna ang pagli-lift,' Garcia told reporters.
'Wala muna tayong ilalagay under Comelec control,' he said.
(Comelec commissioner Aimee Ferolino, commissioner-in-charge, said we will recommend the lifting of control over Buluan and Datu Odin Sinsuat once the campaign period starts. We will not place any area under Comelec control.)
The poll body previously placed the Buluan and Datu Odin Sinsuat towns under Comelec control amid an increase in incidents of election-related violence in the areas ahead of the recent May elections.
Under Comelec control, the poll body will have immediate and direct control and supervision over national and local officials and employees. It will also have full control and supervision over all national and local law enforcement agencies.
Elections preparations
Meanwhile, Garcia said the Comelec is continuing its preparation for the BARMM elections as they started setting up checkpoints and coordinating with the police and military to ensure public safety during the campaign period. He also said the poll body is yet to declare any areas in the Bangsamoro as an election hotspot.
Garcia further said the Comelec will call for an 'extremely urgent' meeting with the seven accredited Bangsamoro regional parties and election watchdogs next week to discuss the 'none of the above' option in the ballots.
'Paano kung none of the above ay nakakuha ng more than 50% ng boto sa bawat position whether sa parliamentary district o sa political parties? Ano ang implication nito?,' he said.
(If the none of above options garnered more than 50% in any position whether for parliamentary districto or political parties, what will be the implications?)
'Kinakailangan namin pag-usapan yan sapagkat lumalabas po wala yung mga kasagutan sa mismong Election Code...Gusto namin na pag ginawa namin ang guidelines patungkol sa pagsagot ng implication ng none of the above, dapat alam ng mga political parties ang aming predicament at parte sila ng solution,' said Garcia.
(We need to discuss because the answer was not indicated in the Election Code. We want that if we establish the guidelines, the political parties know our predicament and are part of the solution.)
He added: 'Tatandaan po ng lahat, ang position ng Comelec at maaaring position din ng parliamentary na gumawa nito, na ang 'none of the above' ay isang kandidato by itself'.
(We would like to remind the public that based on our position, and maybe the parliament too, the 'none of the above' is a candidate by itself.)
BARMM polls
The Bangsamoro polls was reset from May 12 to October 13, 2025 after President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in February signed into law the measure postponing the first-ever parliamentary elections.
The suspension came months after the Supreme Court (SC), in September 2024, upheld the validity of the Bangsamoro Organic Law but declared that Sulu was not part of BARMM. The Court denied motions seeking the reversal of the decision in November 2024.
The SC ruling necessitated the redistribution of the seven vacated seats originally allocated to Sulu under the Bangsamoro Electoral Code. However, the Bangsamoro government has yet to issue a decision on the reallocation. —LDF, GMA Integrated News