BARMM chief signs law redirecting 7 Sulu parliamentary seats
Inquirer files
MANILA, Philippines — Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua signed into law on Thursday the bill redirecting seven parliamentary seats originally allocated to Sulu province.
The Bangsamoro Government announced the development in a Facebook post on Thursday morning. The act was passed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament on third and final reading on August 19.
Known as the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Redistricting Act of 2025, the law also seeks to amend Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 58, which provides for the creation of parliamentary districts in the BARMM.
READ: Comelec suspends printing of ballots for Bangsamoro polls
The Bangsamoro Government redistributed the parliamentary district seats following a Supreme Court decision that excluded Sulu province from the region after it rejected the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law in a plebiscite.
The government noted that the region’s 32 single-member parliamentary districts will be reapportioned as follows:
- nine for Lanao del Sur
- five for Maguindanao del Norte
- five for Maguindanao del Sur
- four for Basilan
- four for Tawi-Tawi
- three for Cotabato City
- two for the Special Geographic Area (SGA)
Originally, Lanao del Sur had eight parliamentary seats; Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur, four each; Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, three each; Cotabato, two; SGA, one; and Sulu, seven.
READ: Comelec to resume ballot printing for BARMM polls on Aug. 28
Commission on Elections Commissioner George Erwin Garcia said on Wednesday that the poll body will continue preparations for the parliamentary elections with 73 seats, maintaining the status quo.
Garcia also announced that ballot printing will resume on Thursday. The printing had been suspended last week after the approval of the bill, allowing the poll body to study its implications further./mcm
