Preparations for the BARMM Parliamentary

Elections in 2022 must start now

By Atty. Emilio Marañon III
Research Fellow, Access Bangsamoro
July 14, 2020

The historic “Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim

Mindanao” was signed by President Duterte on July 27, 2018. The said law created
the “Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao” (BARMM) which replaced the
old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). This new political entity is the
realization of the Moro peoples’ aspiration for “self-governance”  but“within the framework of
the Constitution and the national sovereignty as well as territorial integrity of the Republic of
the Philippines.”

In further pursuit of this aspiration of self-governance in the BARMM, the peoples of the
Bangsamoro are set to elect their own parliamentary officials in a free and democratic
region-wide election to be held on May 9, 2022.

This election is crucial not only because it will test the readiness of the peoples of the
BARMM for “self-governance,” but it is an opportunity to quell the doubts of those who
believe otherwise. Article XVI Section 13 of the said law provides:

“The first regular election for the Bangsamoro Government under this Organic Law shall be
held and synchronized with the 2022 national elections.  The Commission on Elections,
through the Bangsamoro Electoral Office, shall promulgate rules and regulations for the
conduct of the elections, enforce and administer them pursuant to national laws, this Organic
Law and the Bangsamoro Electoral Code.”

To prepare for this historic election, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in Section 40
of the law was tasked to establish a “Bangsamoro Electoral Office” (BEO) which shall
administratively fall within its full supervision and control. The BEO shall in essence operate
as “the” COMELEC in the BARMM, but unlike the present ARMM Regional Office it is
envisioned with more powers and discretion.

The creation of the BEO will entail innovation for COMELEC as it will mean partially
decentralizing its powers in turn requiring some rewriting and redesign in its own structure.
While there are significant improvements in the past decade, COMELEC’s decision-making
process over administrative matters is still quite centralized. Discretion of its field offices
over administrative matters remains very minimal. Thus, establishing a BEO with an
equally “self-governing” status would be a key innovation for BARMM and also a novel step
for the agency.

Presently, with less than two (2) years before the 2022 BARMM elections, the COMELEC
has yet to issue an official resolution setting the structure of the BEO. Clearly, COMELEC
may need to support to address these urgent issues.

Concurrent to the constitution of the BEO, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) is
separately mandated by the BARMM’s Organic Law to ensure the enactment of
a Bangsamoro Electoral Code, which is one of those set as its “priority legislations.”

The said Code in Section 7 (a) is supposed to set the qualifications for groups in the
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region who shall seek to register and participate in the elections
for “Party Representatives.” Party Representatives constitute fifty percent (50%) of the 80-
person Bangsamoro Parliament. Setting these qualifications is a necessary pre-condition to
hold elections for Party Representatives in 2022. One cannot overemphasize the
importance of that process which will determine half of the BARMM Parliament.

There are also related matters that need immediate settlement. One of the most crucial is
the status of the 63 barangays in North Cotabato which voted to be included in the BARMM.
Under which municipality, legislative district or province will they be attached for the
purpose of 2022 elections? This should be settled in order to secure their right to vote in the
2022 elections.

For COMELEC to adequately prepare for the 2022 BARMM elections, all of these concerns
should have been settled last year, 2019. It must be remembered that an automated
election takes at least three (3) years of preparation. For Comelec to prepare, it needs to
know beforehand the number of voters, the positions to be voted for, the number of ballots
needed, among others. The 2022 election is less than two (2) years from now yet there is no
electoral code in sight. This makes the remaining period dangerously tight from the
perspective of election management.

One example is that under COMELEC Resolution no. 9366, the last working day of March
2021 would already be the supposed deadline for registration of political parties and party-
list groups. U