Comelec to make adjustments as BARMM parliament revises electoral code

MANILA, Philippines — As the Bangsamoro parliament approved reforms in its electoral code, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has bared the challenges that the poll body may face in preparing for the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections, which has been postponed anew.

Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia on Wednesday said that the passage of the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) No. 88 will bring adjustments to their preparations for the elections, such as the removal of the “none of the above” option in ballots, the lowering of vote threshold required for party-list, and scraping of accredited sectoral organizations.

In the earlier electoral code of the parliament, voters may have the option to vote for the “none of the above” option on their ballots. Under the BAA No. 88, the required vote threshold for party-lists was lowered from 4 percent to 2.5 percent.

READ: Bill removing NOTA from official ballot passed in BARMM Parliament

Aside from this, Garcia said that the Comelec will have to conduct new accreditation of sectoral organizations, which will effectively disregard the 190 organizations that the poll body accredited before for the elections. The reform in the electoral code also states that the sectoral representatives will now be elected by voters, instead of being chosen internally.

“Kami po ay nagkaroon ng malaking problema sa kasalukuyan. Bakit? Sapagkat pitong buwan na lang po ang natitira mula ngayon patungo sa ating po ang eleksyon, halimbawa sa ikalawang linggo ng September,” Garcia told reporters in an interview.

Garcia earlier said that Congressional hearings into the Bangsamoro elections have reached a consensus to hold the elections in the second week of September. Last January 28, the poll body postponed the elections, which were supposed to be held on March 30, 2026, due to the lack of redistricting law in effect and lack of time to prepare for the polls.

Garcia said that with the changes in the electoral code, the poll body should have the final list of candidates for parliamentary districts, political parties, and sectoral organizations by June 1, 2026 to be included in the database that will be used in the automated elections. He added that ballot printing should commence by July 1.

“Nangangahulugan po, meron lamang kaming March, April, May para mag-accredit ng ating political parties and sectoral organizations,” Garcia noted, adding that the poll body would still have to wait for the BAA No. 88 to be in effect following its publication.

READ: Comelec postpones March 30 Bangsamoro parliamentary elections

Aside from this, Garcia also said that the election of sectoral organizations would take up much space in the ballots, with the ballot possibly spanning up to 60 inches. He added that a bigger ballot was not included in the budget of the poll body before, as it prepared for the elections before the passage of the law reforming the electoral code.

Garcia said that while removing the sectoral organizations from the ballots will not be an option, he noted that the poll body is planning to provide two separate ballots—one containing the positions for parliamentary districts and political parties, while the second one will be for sectoral organizations.

Meanwhile, Garcia lauded the inclusion of the proposal resetting the elections in the priority measures from the Legislative Executive Development Authority Council.

“Welcome na welcome sa amin sapagkat kailangan-kailangan po namin ng batas kaagad, asap, sapagkat diyan po lang magsisimula yung mga pagkilos ni Comelec, base sa aking mga dinetalye na dapat gagawin po namin,” Garcia said. /cb