BARMM districting law passed

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January 14, 2026 | 12:00am

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Bangsamoro parliament yesterday approved a measure reconfiguring the 32 parliamentary districts in the autonomous region, which is required for the conduct of the first parliamentary elections in March.

Earlier, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional two redistricting measures that the parliament drafted after the SC removed Sulu from the core territory of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

After excluding Sulu from BARMM, the SC ruled that the first parliamentary elections must be held not later than March 31.

Sulu had seven parliamentary seats before it was removed from the BARMM.

With Sulu’s exclusion, BARMM is left with only five provinces including Basilan, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi as well as the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato, where the seat of the regional government is located.

Jet Lim, floor leader and spokesman for the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament, said BARMM lawmakers ensured that Parliament Bill (PB) 415 is constitutionally sound and attuned to the SC’s guidance on the setting up of parliamentary districts.

PB 415 allocated nine parliamentary districts for Lanao del Sur, five each for Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur, and four each for Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.

The bill also established three parliamentary districts in Cotabato City and two in the Special Geographic Area in Cotabato, which is located in Soccsksargen.

BARMM parliament member Naguib Sinarimbo said lawmakers ensured that PB 415 would address issues raised by the high tribunal, particularly on redistricting and holding of the parliamentary elections within the time frame set by the SC.

Despite the passage of the BARMM districting law, the holding of the parliamentary elections in March remains uncertain, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“We are confronted with legal and operational issues as to whether the conduct of the first Bangsamoro parliamentary election is still feasible by March 30. Since there is no law yet fixing the date of the election at this point, the same is still a question mark,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia said yesterday.

Garcia said that the districting law would take effect 15 days after publication.

“If the bill becomes effective by last week of January, we have only two months to prepare. The Comelec will have a hard time holding it on March 30,” he said.

Garcia said the poll body would inform lawmakers that it is not possible to conduct the BARMM elections in March.

He said that if the Comelec would be compelled to conduct the election in March or April, the voting will have to be done manually.

“Expect chaos and fighting. Despite our efforts, there will be people who will cause trouble,” he said. — Rhodina Villanueva