11 hours ago
Comelec continues preparations for BARMM polls
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Wednesday that it will continue with the preparations for the first-ever Bangsamoro parliamentary elections amid the pending decision on the reallocation of seven seats assigned to Sulu.
Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said the poll body wrote to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Senate President Chiz Escudero, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and the Senate and House committees on electoral reforms to inform them that they are preparing for the Bangsamoro polls with 73 parliamentary seats.
'Walang kaduda-duda tuloy na tuloy ang Bangsamoro parliamentary elections bagamat ang pinaghahandaan natin muna sa kasalukuyan ay ang 73 parliamentary seats kasi ang pito ay di pa namin alam ang final na sasabihin ng parliament,' Garcia said.
(The BARMM polls will proceed but in the meantime, we're preparing for only 73 seats. We have yet to learn the decision on the seven vacated seats.)
'Baka kasi kapusin kami ng oras sa paghahanda dahil ito ay automated elections,' he said.
(We're preparing now because we may not have enough time since this is an automated election.)
The Bangsamoro polls was reset from May 12 to October 13, 2025 after Marcos signed into law the measure postponing the elections in February.
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.
'Nakailang sulat tayo pero wala pa tayong natanggap sa kanila pero may mga pag-convey ng mensahe na mukhang kakayanin nila kundi last week ng June, first week ng July yung naturang batas na ating inaasahan,' said Garcia.
(We already wrote to them but have yet to receive a response. However, we were told that the resolution may be issued by the last week of June or the first week of July.)
According to the Comelec, 109 aspirants have filed their candidacies for district representative seats in the 2025 Bangsamoro polls. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News
