Comelec chief: No nuisance complaint vs any BARMM poll bet

FILE PHOTO: Bangsamoro Parliament. – Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Erwin Garcia said Tuesday, November 19, 2024, that no complaints against any aspirant suspected to be a nuisance candidate in the first-ever election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARRM) next year have been lodged before the poll body. Photo from the official website of BARMM Parliament/ parliament.bangsamoro.gov.ph
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said no complaints against any aspirant suspected to be a nuisance candidate in the first-ever Bangsamoro election next year have been lodged before the poll body.
“So far there are no nuisance candidate petitions filed in Bangsamoro,” said Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia during an ambush interview on the sidelines of the 1st National Convention of Election Officers in Pasay City on Tuesday.
Garcia, however, noted that the deadline for filing complaints against nuisance candidates already lapsed on Nov. 14.
A total of 109 aspirants for 65 parliamentary district seats of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARRM) filed their certificates of candidacy before the Comelec.
READ: Comelec cites rule on BARMM COC filing if polls moved to 2026
Article continues after this advertisementMost of the candidates come from Lanao del Sur with 41, followed by Maguindanao del Norte with 24, Maguindanao del Sur with 15, Tawi-Tawi with 10, Basilan with 14, and the BARMM Special Geographic Area with five.
Article continues after this advertisementAlthough the Bangsamoro Organic Law said the BARRM parliament should have 80 seats, only 65 seats are up for grabs in the 2025 elections.
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Of the 65 seats, 25 are allotted for parliamentary district representatives, while the rest or 40 are reserved for regional parliamentary political parties, which is similar to the party-list system in the House of Representatives.
Eight seats would also be given to sectoral groups, which shall be elected during their respective conventions or assembly and separate from the parliamentary polls.
Seven seats were supposed to be for Sulu. However, Sulu is no longer part of the BARRM.