Sulu voters reject BOL

Residents of Sulu are not in favor of ratifying the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), at least based on the unofficial results of the January 21 plebiscite as of Wednesday afternoon.

Based on Sulu’s Certificate of Canvass signed by the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) Provincial Plebiscite Board of Canvassers, the 'yes' vote lost at 137,630 as against 163,526 'no' votes.

This means that the 'no' votes increased by 12,131 as compared with the tally on Tuesday afternoon, while the 'yes' vote only gained 1,623 votes during the same period.

Sulu is composed of 19 cities and municipalities and has 375,137 registered voters.

Of the over 375,000 registered voters, the province registered a 301,196 voter turnout during the plebiscite.

But even with this development, the overall number of 'yes' votes to BOL ratification is still way ahead at 1,341,66 as opposed to 204,633 ‘no’ votes as of partial, unofficial results on Wednesday afternoon.

The BOL seeks to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, which will have an expanded land and water jurisdiction, fiscal autonomy, and increased share in national government resources, among others. 

In October 2018, the Sulu provincial government, led by Governor Abdusakur Tan II, questioned the BOL’s legality before the Supreme Court by arguing that Congress committed grave abuse of discretion in passing the BOL because ARMM cannot be abolished without amending the Constitution.

The Supreme Court has yet to rule on this petition. —KBK, GMA News