The Special Geographic Area of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (SGA-BARMM) will have to bear with an irregular electoral setup in May 2025, pending the creation of its provinces and legislative districts by Congress.
BARMM Ministry of Interior and Local Government chief Elijah Dumama Alba said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in recent meetings with Bangsamoro leaders, stressed on a “moratorium on the creation of provinces.”
In essence, the May polling scenario in SGA will be that its constituents cannot vote for the gubernatorial and congressional posts, until Congress creates the provinces and congressional districts comprising SGA’s provincial local government units (PLGUs) and regular legislative districts.
The power to create provinces and congressional districts solely belongs to Congress.
The SGA is composed of 63 villages carved out of five municipalities of Cotabato Province, following the February 2020 plebiscite during which they voted to join BARMM.
Dumama-Alba said the parliamentary elections in the region were also likely to be reset by Congress, as the Senate was probably only waiting for the official transmission of the House-passed version of the Bill that seeks to postpone the parliamentary elections in BARMM to May 2025.
“In that case, the Senate usually only reviews the House version, and there will be no more bicameral conference, and it will be passed.”
The Parliament of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) has since created eight municipalities by legislation, which have been ratified in plebiscites held in April this year.
The presidential moratorium on approval of laws creating new provinces may have been prompted by corresponding adjustments on internal revenue allotments (IRA), following the so-called Mandanas Ruling by the Supreme Court, according to local governments pundits.
The Mandanas Ruling significantly increased the tax base on which the share of the LGUs is computed from, and thus, strengthened fiscal decentralization, according to the Department of Budget and Management.
In that sense, the SGA-BARMM will have to continue being operational with only municipal LGUs in its local governance structure and in relation to the BARMM Government, said Dumama-Alba.
She reported on the assessment of LGUs compliance with various programs of government by which barangays, municipalities and provinces are rated with merits for citations and awards, including the SEAL or Salamat Excellence Award for Leadership (SEAL).
The SEAL was established in honor of the late Ustadz Salamat Hashim, the founding chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front.
