The Bangsamoro parliament hopes to get a directive soon on the seven parliamentary seats reserved for Sulu, following the exclusion of the province from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Bangsamoro spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Mohd Asnin Pendatun added that the Parliament is “studying” its options, which include reassigning the seats or leaving them vacant.
Pendatun, in an interview with ABS-CBN News, said: “We hope to have a clear directive as soon as possible. From the national government and also from Comelec. Kung yung decision po is we push through with just 73 seats being contested, then for purposes of ensuring na we’ll have an election next year then yun po yung susundin natin,” he added.
Under Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the BARMM’s 80-member parliament is composed of 40 regional political party representatives, 32 district representatives and eight sectoral representatives.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Garcia earlier said the Comelec will push through with the parliamentary elections in Bangsamoro, leaving the seven seats for Sulu vacant.
He said the poll regulator also plans to include Sulu in Region IX or Zamboanga Peninsula, where it originally belonged.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the validity of the Bangsamoro Organic Law. But in the same decision, the high court excluded Sulu province from BARMM, citing the province thumbed down the ratification of the BOL in a 2019 plebiscite.
