Comelec to proceed with Bangsamoro polls despite SC ruling excluding Sulu

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will proceed with the conduct of the first-ever parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Region next year following the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling excluding Sulu from the autonomous region.

On Tuesday, Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said the province’s removal will affect the preparations for the 2025 Bangsamoro elections but the poll body is keen on refraining from postponing or resetting the polls.

“Nagulat kami. Medyo malaking problema sa part ng Comelec. Aaminin po namin ‘yan… Ang paghahanda ng buong Komisyon kahit ‘yung sistema na hinahanda natin, kahit ‘yung operational plan, administrative plan ng Comelec ay kabilang ang Sulu,” Garcia added.

(We were surprised. It's a pretty big problem on the part of the Comelec. We admit that because the preparation of the entire Commission, including the system we're preparing, the operational plan, and the administrative plan of the Comelec, includes Sulu.)

“Bukas pag-uusapan ng Commission en banc ang kabuuan nang kung ano ang ilalatag nating plano patungkol pero again, sa puntong ito di natin minamarapat o iniisip na magpostpone o mag-reset ng election sa Bangsamoro,” Garcia said.

(The Commission en banc will discuss tomorrow the overall plan we will lay out, but again, at this point, we don't think it's appropriate or consider postponing or resetting the election in Bangsamoro.)

On Monday, the SC upheld the validity of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, however, it also declared that the province of Sulu is not part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The high court said the decision is “immediately executory.”

"The Court ruled that the Bangsamoro Organic Law is constitutional because it does not make BARMM a separate state from the Philippines,” said SC spokesperson Camille Ting at a press conference.

“The Court, however, declared unconstitutional the interpretation of the provision in the law directing the provinces and cities of ARMM to vote as one geographical unit as to include provinces that rejected the law,” she added. “This violates Article X, Section 18 of the Constitution, which states that only provinces, cities, and geographic areas voting favorably in the plebiscite shall be included in the autonomous region.”

For its part, the Comelec said it would make "necessary adjustments" in accordance with the SC decision.

“Di namin inaasahan ang ganitong klaseng development and therefore, we would have to do the necessary adjustments. Tingnan natin kung anong adjustment ang gagawin ng Commission. In the meantime, sapat na lamang na malaman ng mga kababayan natin sa Bangsamoro that the Comelec, at this point, will proceed with the election,” said Garcia.

(We didn't expect this kind of development, and therefore, we'll have to make the necessary adjustments. Let's see what adjustments the Commission will make. In the meantime, it's enough that our fellow citizens in the Bangsamoro know that the Comelec will proceed with the election at this point.)

Under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which was enacted into law on July 27, 2018, the BARMM replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The Bangsamoro will have an expanded land and water jurisdiction, fiscal autonomy, and increased share in national government resources, among others.

In 2018, Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan II questioned before the SC the legality of the BOL, arguing that  ARMM cannot be abolished without amending the 1987 Constitution. Meanwhile, the Sulu province rejected the ratification of the BOL during the plebiscite in 2019.

The BARMM is set to have its first parliamentary elections in May 2025. But with the latest decision, Sulu will not be participating in the elections. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News