In an earlier article, we expressed apprehension about another postponement of the BARMM parliamentary election. In fact, we have been told that this early, BARMM officials are lobbying for postponement, resulting in an alleged draft law being filed in the Senate. This will allow the current officials to remain in office longer.

This, however, did not prevent the interim Parliament from drafting a law districting the BARMM areas for the purposes of allocating representatives for each district. This is a condition sine qua non before electing district representatives in the 2025 parliamentary election. As correctly pointed out by Provincial Election Supervisor, lawyer Udtog Tago, one of the resource speakers, if this is not passed there will be no election. The BARMM leadership is preparing for both an election and no-election scenario.

To the uninitiated, under the Bangsamoro Organic Law, of the 80 members of parliament, 40% will come from the party-list system, 32 percent from the legislative districts, and at least 10%, or 8, from the “women, youth, indigenous people, settler communities, traditional leaders and the Ulama” sectors.

Initially, the members were all appointed by the President during the interim transition period with their principal mandate being to prepare the autonomous government for elections that was supposed to coincide with the 2022 national elections but was postponed on the grounds that the BARMM officials had not finished their transition work. But they will eventually face election in the 2025 synchronized elections. It is the 32 percent of members to be elected from the legislative districts that are the main subject of the Senate draft bill.

The BARMM Bangsamoro Transition Authority, the interim regional parliament, submitted for public hearing and consultation draft Parliament Bill 267 entitled An Act Providing for the Creation of Parliamentary Districts in the BARMM. A series of hearings was conducted in population centers in th ring was conducted in Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur. This writer was privileged to be one of the resource speakers.

It was an anticipated hearing. Days before, local residents, including civil society groups held preliminary discussions on the impact of the bill on their district representation. As drafted, Marawi City was allocated only one seat. The Sangguiniang Panglungsod of Marawi City passed a formal resolution requesting the “allocation of two (2) seats in the BARMM Parliament...,” principally invoking the explicit provisions of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (RA 11054) bestowing responsibility on the BTA to determine the number of parliamentary districts in the region citing strong and valid persuasive grounds. The venue of the hearing, a gymnasium, was filled to the brim manifesting the importance of the issue.

You could feel the intensity of the moment with the enthusiasm and passionate speeches of the resource speakers and the rhetorical exchanges that ensued. And likewise visible was the uneasiness of the panel of ministers who were on the receiving end of the allocation request. The interplay of conflicting parochial interests made it hard for the panel presided over by Deputy Speaker Paisalin Tago, concurrently the Minister of Transportation and Communica tion, to reach a consensus. All they could promise was to present the arguments and the position papers to the plenary session for final disposition.

As we pointed out during the forum, the panel was in a zero-sum situation. If they approve the request for two representatives from Marawi City they would have to remove one representative from another district. But it will be difficult for the panel to ignore the resounding appeal of the speakers to accommodate the request of Marawi City.

In the next article we will present the arguments proffered by advocates for two representatives for Marawi City. Readers should be the judge if it merits a second look by the BTA.

Happy 5th Foundation Day to BARMM!

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