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John Unson - Philstar.com
February 7, 2026 | 5:38pm
The Bangsamoro regional government center is located in Cotabato City, the capital of the autonomous region.
Photo courtesy of Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Three members of the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament have urged Malacañang, the Senate and the House of Representatives to synchronize the first-ever BARMM parliamentary polls with the nationwide 2028 local and national elections.
The regional lawmakers Jose Lorena, Jet Lim and Khalid Ma-Amor Hadji Abdullah had stated in their appeal, copies of which were received by reporters on Saturday, February 7, that it is attuned to a Supreme Court ruling implying that the Philippine Constitution mandates synchronization of elections, including those in autonomous regions, to promote political stability, orderly transition in leadership and efficient governance by regional, provincial, city and municipal governments.
Certain members of the lawmaking body in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, among them lawyers and ministers of different BARMM agencies in concurrent capacities, told reporters on Saturday that members of Congress and Senators are apparently keen on setting the first BARMM elections in September this year.
"For some of us, elections in the Bangsamoro region should be held this year," one of them, who requested anonymity, said.
Members of the BARMM parliament were first appointed in 2019 by then President Rodrigo Duterte. President Marcos reappointed some of them and replaced others with newcomers after his election in 2022 and, subsequently, repeated such a move, as a presidential prerogative, in March 2025.
The BARMM, a product of 22 years of peace talks between Malacañang and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, replaced in early 2019 the then 27-year less empowered Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Information officers in agencies of the regional government told reporters that BARMM’s charter, the Bangsamoro Organic Law, mentioned that the first regional election was supposed to be synchronized with the 2025 local and national electoral exercise, but was reset by Congress to October 13, 2025 via Republic Act 12123.
The supposed October 13, 2025 BARMM regional polls did not push through as scheduled because the regional laws, passed by the parliament, reapportioning the 32 parliamentary districts in the autonomous region, were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
The supposed redistribution of the parliamentary districts in the autonomous region to different areas was precipitated by the High Tribunal’s removal in 2025 of Sulu province, which had seven parliamentary districts then, from its core territory as petitioned by provincial officials.
Lorena, Lim and Hadji Abdullah had pointed out that the synchronization of BARMM’s first ever parliamentary polls with the 2028 national elections will certainly promote lasting peace and sustainable development in the autonomous region.
The three of them also asserted that a synchronized 2028 BARMM and national elections will provide a stable framework for an honest, clean, orderly and meaningful electoral exercise in the autonomous region, which covers Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi provinces and the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato.
