Comelec: BTA has until Nov. 30 to pass redistricting law

Commision on Elections Chair George Erwin Garcia — File photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) still has until November 30 to pass a redistricting law after it failed to comply with the deadline primarily set by the Supreme Court (SC) following the postponement of the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday.

Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said that based on his communication with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, a redistricting bill has been approved in the second reading while two others were consolidated.

Last October 1, the SC postponed the elections, which were scheduled on October 13, 2025, after it ruled that the recent redistricting law, Bangsamoro Autonomous Act (BAA) No. 77, and its predecessor, BAA No. 58 are unconstitutional.

READ: Supreme Court pushes back BARMM parliamentary polls

“If you study the decision of the Supreme Court, while it indicated a [deadline for] October 30, it has an extension that should not exceed more than 120 days before the elections,” Garcia told reporters in an interview.

The SC directed the BTA to determine the distribution of district parliamentary seats by October 30 while the Comelec should conduct the elections no later than March 31, 2026.

The SC, through its spokesperson Atty. Camille Ting, said that “a new and valid districting law must be passed consistent with the Bangsamoro Organic Law [BOL], national law, and the Constitution.”

Garcia noted that if the elections were to be held on March 31, 2026, then the latest deadline of the BTA to submit the law would be on November 30, 2025.

“It may exceed October 30, but it still has not yet surpassed the second period indicated by the Supreme Court in its decision,” Garcia added.

BAA No. 77, signed into law last August 28, is the law that redistributed seven seats originally allocated to Sulu. The SC earlier ruled to exclude Sulu from the region after the province rejected the ratification of the BOL in a plebiscite. Meanwhile, BAA No. 58 created the parliamentary districts in the region.

The BARMM Parliament has 80 seats, of which 40 seats are allocated for party representatives, 32 for single-member parliamentary districts, and eight for sectoral representatives.

Challenges faced

While Garcia said that he believes the BTA can comply with the November 30 deadline for a redistricting law, he stated that meeting the March 31, 2026 election deadline might be impossible if the second deadline is not followed. Garcia explained that the Comelec follows a timeline based on its study and experience.

“If [a passage of a law], which becomes the basis of the Comelec, exceeds on November 30, it seems that we can’t have elections by March 31,” he said.

Garcia also said that the Comelec cannot urgently request the BTA to pass the redistricting law as soon as possible, as the parliament is a “different entity by itself.” He explained that the poll body, as the implementer of the law, “cannot interfere and intervene” with the legislative process of the parliament.

READ: Comelec says more than P1B wasted as it restarts preps for BARMM polls

When asked if the non-passage of a law by November 30 could affect the preparations of the poll body, Garcia answered in the affirmative.

He reiterated that the poll body will reopen a filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) in the first week of January, while it will dedicate the second and third week of the month to process the COCs and input them in a database for the printing of ballots by February 2026.

After the filing of COCs, Garcia said that the poll body expects to resolve cases of disqualification and cancellation of COCs.

“That’s why we need to resolve cases filed here to ensure that we will print filtered names of candidates on the ballots,” he added.

Garcia earlier said that more than P1 billion worth of materials and payments were already wasted upon the postponement of the elections.

Possible manual elections?

Garcia said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) may resort to manual elections for the BARMM parliamentary polls in a “worst-case scenario,” citing the lack of a redistricting law and the poll body’s tight preparation timeline.

However, he clarified that the Comelec will still implement automated elections in line with the law, which classifies the polls as a continuation of the 2025 midterm elections that used automation.

Garcia noted that while manual elections are easier to implement, they carry significant risks and challenges.

“We can no longer afford manual elections that would take weeks before results are released. Such a process is very dangerous for large-scale elections; it really needs to be automated,” he said.

He added that the poll body has the authority to develop a “contingency plan” to ensure the elections proceed.

“The important thing is that the elections have a set date, and everything must be done to meet it. Otherwise, we will invoke a postponement of the election or resort to another system for conducting it,” he said.

/das/mcm