109 aspirants file COCs for BARMM elections

More than 100 aspirants have filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the first Bangsamoro elections in May 2025, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday.

In an ambush interview, Comelec chairperson George Garcia said a total of 109 aspirants and around six regional political parties filed their COCs.

“Halos apat ang kandidato sa bawat seat. Kung i-a-average natin, hindi na po maliit yun na bilang. And therefore, nakakatuwa. Ibig sabihin madami ang nag interest na tumakbo dito sa Bangsamoro elections, kauna-unahan,” Garcia said.

(There’s almost four candidates per seat. If we average it, that’s not a small number.  This means that a lot of people are in running for the first Bangsamoro elections.)

The period for the filing of COCs is from November 4 to November 9.

At least 73 elective positions are up for grabs in the parliamentary elections, of which 40 are for regional political parties, 25 for parliamentary districts, and eight for sectoral organizations.

Following the filing, Garcia said they will accept petitions to declare some aspirants as nuisance candidates or petitions to cancel their candidacy.

“Katulad din po nang ginagawa natin doon sa mga nag aspire para sa senador at sa mga lokal na positions,” he said.

(Similar to what we do for senatorial and local positions.)

No untoward incidents

According to Garcia, there were also no untoward incidents during the filing.

“Wala na kahit anong kaguluhan o iregularidad ang nangyari doon sa filing natin. So ayan ay nagpapakita ng onti-onti nating pagiging mature bilang bansa,” he said.

(There was no chaos or irregularity during the filing. So this shows that the country is slowly maturing.)

“At sana nga sa darating na halalan, pag dating pa lang ng campaign period, ganyan na rin ang masasaksihan natin,” he added.

(I hope that in the coming elections, once the campaign period starts, we will still see such a situation.)

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

However, the SC has recently declared that Sulu is not part of the region and will not be participating in the upcoming polls. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News