THE COMMISSION ON Elections (Comelec) can no longer afford another postponement of the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) amid the absence of a new law by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.
No less than Comelec chairman George Garcia admitted that they have yet to finalize the final date for the first ever election covering the provinces forming part of the autonomous Muslim Mindanao region.
“As long as no law is passed by the Bangsamoro parliament, the Comelec cannot prepare and cannot fix the election periods. The Supreme Court merely said it should not be later than March 31,” Garcia said.
NEVER REMISS
According to Garcia, Comelec was never remiss in its mandate even as he claimed that the poll body has been constantly communicating with the BTA regarding the status of the new Bangsamoro redistricting law.
“We are regularly asking the parliament if there is already a proposed law or even movement for its enactment,” said Garcia.
The Supreme Court (SC) previously declared the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 58 and 77 unconstitutional, even as it ordered the BTA to craft a new districting law by October 30, 2025.
The ruling also resulted in the postponement of the BPE to a date no later than March 31, 2026.
WASTED FUNDS
Comelec said the postponement has cost the agency P1.2 billion in wasted funds. Of that amount, P500 million went to the printing of official BPE ballots.
Garcia said they are seeking to recover the wasted funds as preparations for the BPE are now back to zero.
“We need to ask for an additional budget, likely similar to how much we lost or even more,” he said.
He noted that the poll body will have to pay again for the deployment and retrieval of poll paraphernalia — “We have already distributed the poll materials, so we will have to pay for the deployment. Also, there is reverse logistics, which will also be included in the payables,” Garcia added.
MANUAL ELECTION
Pressed against time, Comelec is studying the possibility of shifting to a manual system of voting for the BPE.
“In compliance with the Supreme Court’s decision that an election must be held by March 31, 2026, we are currently studying whether manual elections are possible to do,” Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said on Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.
“We see the pressing demand to have an election on March 31. That is why we are really pushing forward with the study on whether holding a manual election is possible,” he added.
The first-ever BPE was supposed to be held on Oct. 13 but was postponed.
ANOTHER RESET
Laudiangco said if ever the poll body finds itself pressed for time, it can move to push the BPE to a later date.
“In case we really run out of time, the Comelec may postpone the election for a brief period, in accordance with Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code,” he said.
Under Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code, the Comelec “may, motu proprio or upon a verified petition, postpone the scheduled elections to a date, which should be reasonably close to the date of the election not held, when there are cases of violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous causes.”
VOTER REGISTRATION
Meanwhile, Comelec will resume the nationwide voters’ registration activities on Oct. 20.
According to Garcia, the seven-month registration period will be held until May 18, 2026 in all regions in the country except for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
In an interview, the poll body chief said they are expecting over 1 million applicants for registration during the period — “We believe we can reach 1.4 million registrants.”
He however clarified that the BARMM is not included in the scheduled activities as the region will have its own voters’ registration schedule.
The Comelec chief said the registration activities in the region shall commence on May 1, 2026 and will run until May 18 of the same year. (With reports from Jai Duena)