Comelec: Only 73 parliament seats to be contested in BARMM polls

Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila. INQUIRER FILES

COTABATO CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Tuesday, that it will proceed with the conduct of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Parliamentary Elections on October 13, 2025, with a reduced number of 73 seats to be contested.

This decision comes in light of the absence of new legislation reallocating the seven parliamentary seats previously assigned to the province of Sulu.

The Comelec’s resolution, Minute Resolution No. 25-0738 dated June 17, 2025, was reached after a “very careful study and consideration of the tight pre-election timelines” for the upcoming BARMM elections.

The Comelec clarified that the number of district representative seats allocated for other provinces within the Bangsamoro Region remains unaffected by this resolution.

The seven district representative seats formerly belonging to Sulu are now considered “temporarily vacant.”

These vacancies, Comelec stated, may be filled subsequently through various means, including presidential appointment, a future ruling by the Supreme Court, or new legislation from either the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) or the Philippine Congress.

The first regular parliamentary elections for the BARMM are a crucial step in the region’s transition from an interim government to a fully elected parliamentary system.

The original framework for the Bangsamoro Parliament stipulated 80 members.

The exclusion of Sulu from the BARMM, following a Supreme Court ruling, necessitated a reallocation of its seven seats.

Despite ongoing discussions and proposed bills within the Bangsamoro Parliament to address this, no final legislation has been enacted to redistribute these seats before Comelec’s pre-election deadlines. /gsg