Proposed BARMM election code hits snag as governor objects

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines – The proposed Bangsamoro electoral and local government codes hit a roadblock, as local officials raised serious concerns over their constitutionality and the broad powers sought by its proponents for the planned regional elections body.

Claiming that most of the region’s governors and mayors shared his position, Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. submitted a position paper during a public consultation in Marawi City that proposed the re-writing of the draft Bangsamoro Electoral Code and the Bangsamoro Local Government Code.

Adiong told the two-day public consultation in Marawi on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 31 and February 1, that he and other local officials were strongly opposed to Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Bills Nos. 29 and 30 because some of its crucial provisions give the regional government, through its proposed election office and tribunal, extra-powers.

BTA Bill Nos. 29 and 30 are the proposed Bangsamoro electoral and local government codes, respectively.

He said the codes’ proponents need to make the proposals aligned with the Constitution and other laws and limit the powers of the planned Bangsamoro Electoral Office (BEO).

The proposed BEO, said Adiong, looks like a super body with judicial, quasi-judicial, quasi-executive, and quasi-legislative powers. 

If approved, he said, the BEO would detract from the authority of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The proposal, he said, was an attempt to empower the BEO to hear and decide on clustering of voting precincts, election violations, and other offenses, undermining the functions of the Comelec.

Adiong also questioned moves to create a Bangsamoro Electoral Tribunal which, if approved, would have the power to resolve election protests in the predominantly Muslim region.

The proposal, he said, would be a violation of the Constitution that mandated the Comelec to handle election contests and look into the qualifications of elected officials.

“The water cannot rise above its source,” said Adiong.

He said the region’s parliament should limit its scope to preparations for the 2025 and future elections in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), and to ensure peaceful, orderly, and clean elections.

He said the proposed codes should also result in more citizen participation during electoral exercises in the BARMM.

Adiong also said the Bangsamoro parliament should focus on ensuring that measures would be in place to address the problem of election-related violence in the region. 

The mayor of Taraka in Lanao del Sur, Amenodin Sumagayan, said the proposals seek to give the regional government overreaching powers that could result in the unequal treatment of local chief executives in the provinces.

He questioned a proposal to make sectoral representatives in the BARMM parliament appointed rather than elected.

He also questioned a proposal to require groups to show proof that they have at least 10,000 members first before they could be registered as political parties in the BARMM.

These proposals, he said, were inconsistent with national laws.

Sumagayan claimed that all of the mayors in Lanao del Sur were opposed to the proposals because they find some of the salient provisions unacceptable.

The BARMM, a Muslim-majority special administrative region in Mindanao created following a political settlement between the government and the once secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), covers the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, the now divided Maguindanao territory, and some parts of Cotabato province.

Ali Montaha Babao, a member of the BARMM parliament, said the region’s officials would consider the points raised by local officials and citizens during the public consultations as they work to enact the electoral code before the end of March or early April, ahead of the barangay elections. 

In September 2022, BARMM interim Chief Minister Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim said the BTA would prioritize the passage of the region’s election and local governance codes.

Based on the proposal, the next BARMM parliament would consist of 80 members, with 10% occupying seats reserved for sectoral representatives who would be chosen by the chief minister.

Under the planned setup, the region’s chief minister and two deputy chief ministers would be elected by members of parliament. – Rappler.com