BARMM leaders want Bangsamoro electoral code nullified

MANILA, Philippines — Bangsamoro officials are calling on the Supreme Court (SC) to void some provisions of the Bangsamoro Electoral Code (BEC) as it contradicts the Constitution and existing national laws.

In a 64-page petition, public officials and political leaders of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) explained that the BEC, signed into law in March, violates the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and “the constitutional guarantee on equal protection of the laws and equal access to opportunities for public service.”

“(The articles on positions in parliament and elective local positions) of the BEC are unconstitutional as they seek to govern activities related to local and national elections, in violation of the BOL and the Constitution, when the BEC is supposed to govern only the election of members of the Bangsamoro Parliament,” the petition read.

The petition, signed by 15 BARMM leaders, also pointed out that the BEC encroaches upon the SC’s power to promulgate rules and regulations on election cases filed in trial courts.

Criminal acts considered lawful outside of BARMM may also be made punishable in the autonomous region, and “conversely, an unlawful act in Cebu or Manila may be considered innocent in the BARMM.”

There is also a provision allowing public funds to be used for election campaigns and partisan political activities, which is a violation of the Omnibus Election Code that prohibits it.

Another inconsistency is its four percent threshold for political party representatives to qualify for a seat in parliament.

The BEC is one of seven priorities of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

Its passage will pave way for the BARMM’s first election in 2025.

Suspend BSKE?

Meanwhile, the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) cannot be suspended in the BARMM without due process, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the commission cannot suspend the BSKE in October without basis, citing the Omnibus Election Code (OEC).

The OEC authorizes the Comelec to suspend an election if there is an insurrection, rebellion, terrorism, violence, force majeure, loss and destruction of election paraphernalia.

“In other words, the causes must be similar. Question is, in BARMM are those causes present? If not, then Comelec has no ground to postpone the BSKE there,” Garcia said mostly in Filipino.

Five of six BARMM governors have called for the postponement of the BSKE until combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have been decommissioned.

Garcia said a law may need to be enacted to postpone the BSKE in the entire region.

“Only Congress can do (a holdover),” he said. — Mayen Jaymalin