BARMM regional elections will push through in September – Garcia

COTABATO CITY—There is no stopping the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections on Sept. 14 this year.

This was the declaration of Commission on Elections Chairman George Garcia in a radio interview on Friday.

His pronouncement comes as the Bangsamoro Electoral Office wrapped up the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for aspirants of 32 district representative seats.

Garcia said they have began the verification process for the COC filers and will release the official list of candidates within a week.

Doubts about the regional polls pushing through on September continue to swirl around, especially as the legal basis for electing representatives of parliamentary districts is facing a constitutional challenge before the Supreme Court.

Garcia said that the BARMM parliamentary election, which had been postponed four times since 2022, will push through unless the Supreme Court issues a restraining order.

He acknowleged the petitions before the high court questioning the constitutionality of the BARMM districting law.

“If the Supreme Court truly wanted to stop the preparations, it could have issued a restraining order long ago,” Garcia told DxMS radio.

The Comelec preparations are done alongside efforts by the police and military to secure the polling areas.

On Thursday, seven gunmen belonging to the terrorist group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) surrendered and turned over their weapons to the Army in Maguindanao del Sur.

This came as the military in Central Mindanao its peace and security campaign in the province, said Lieutenant Colonel Loqui Marco, commanding officer of the Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion.

Among the weapons surrendered by the former BIFF members were four homemade Barret sniper rifles, two 811 mortar and a Garand rifle.

On May 5, five terrorists surrendered to the Army, claiming they were tired of fighting a cause they didn’t even understand. /apl