In the long and winding history of the Bangsamoro region's attempt to govern itself, a new map of 32 parliamentary districts has finally been drawn, yet the calendar has not caught up with it. Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua's signature on Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 86 answers a question the courts had insisted upon, namely how to shape representation after Sulu was removed from the region. But the arrival of that answer, just 70 days before the vote, collides with a national rule designed to keep the electoral machinery stable, and so the region's democratic hopes now wait on Congress t
BARMM Elections Stalled: New Districting Law Clears One Hurdle, but the 120-Day Rule Blocks the March Vote
A valid district map is now available, but time is quickly running out.
Mark
So the districting law is signed. Why isn't the election simply on?
Mimi
Because the law came 70 days before March 30, and the 120-day rule bars changing or creating precincts inside that window. The transition authority can draw districts but can't waive a national statute.
Luke
Worth noting this is an opinion column analyzing the situation. The sequence of dates is laid out clearly, but the claim that the Comelec can't proceed is the author's reading of the rule.
Mark
What else does the Comelec need to do?
Mimi
Remap voter districts and precinct assignments, print district-specific ballots, and configure the automated election system.
Mark
And the Supreme Court's role?
Mimi
It excluded Sulu in 2024, struck down BAA 77 last September, and set March 31, 2026 as the latest election date. But it also recognized that Congress can reset election dates.
Luke
That's the hinge. The column doesn't say whether the Court would accept a date later than March 31 if Congress sets one. That's unknown.
Mark
What are the options in Congress?
Mimi
Zubiri's bill keeps March 30 but needs a waiver of the 120-day rule. Escudero's says May 11. Adiong's says Sept. 28, with the interim government continuing until Dec. 1.
Luke
And the column doesn't tell us which bill has momentum, or whether any has moved beyond being filed. Nor does it say how many days the Comelec would actually need.
Le Pouls
- A districting law landed just 70 days before the March 30 vote, colliding with a 120-day rule that freezes precincts.
- The Supreme Court's March 31, 2026 deadline is closing in, leaving little room for error.
- Comelec must remap districts, print district-specific ballots, and reconfigure the automated system all at once.
- Candidate filings remain suspended, so no one can yet run for a specific seat.
- Three competing bills, proposing March 30, May 11, or September 28, 2026, now sit before Congress as the only path forward.
In the long and winding history of the Bangsamoro region's attempt to govern itself, a new map of 32 parliamentary districts has finally been drawn, yet the calendar has not caught up with it. Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua's signature on Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 86 answers a question the courts had insisted upon, namely how to shape representation after Sulu was removed from the region. But the arrival of that answer, just 70 days before the vote, collides with a national rule designed to keep the electoral machinery stable, and so the region's democratic hopes now wait on Congress to decide whether the rules of time will bend.
On January 20, 2026, Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua signed Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 86, which draws 32 single-member parliamentary districts across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. It is the first map that accounts for the Supreme Court's removal of Sulu, and it seemed to be the final piece for the region's first regular parliamentary elections. It is not quite that.
The law arrived 70 days before the March 30 vote the Commission on Elections had set, under a Supreme Court directive to hold the election by March 31. The national Voter's Registration Act bars changing precincts within 120 days of an election, and the regional transition authority cannot waive that safeguard. Comelec now has to remap voters, print district ballots, and configure the automated system in very little time.
The path here has been a long tug-of-war between regional law, national statute, and the courts. The Bangsamoro Organic Law created the region in 2019, and successive postponements pushed the first election from 2022 to 2025 and then to October 2025. The Supreme Court struck down Sulu's inclusion in 2024, and later voided a districting law that had reallocated Sulu's seats. That ruling left the Comelec without a valid map, and in December it suspended candidate filings.
Now a valid map exists, but the calendar does not fit it. Three bills await Congress: one proposing March 30 with a waiver of the 120-day rule, one setting May 11, and one setting September 28, 2026, with the interim government extended until officials take office. What happens next depends on which bill Congress takes up, and on whether it can reconcile that choice with the Supreme Court's March 31 deadline.
On Jan. 20, 2026, Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua signed Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 86, a districting law that draws 32 single-member parliamentary districts across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. It is the first map that accounts for the Supreme Court's removal of Sulu from the region, and it looked like the last piece needed for the region's first regular parliamentary elections. It is not quite that.
The law came 70 days before March 30, the date the Commission on Elections had set for the vote. That date follows a Supreme Court directive that the election be held no later than March 31, 2026. The timing creates a legal bind. Under the 120-day rule in the Voter's Registration Act (RA 8189), existing polling precincts cannot be altered and new ones cannot be created within that window. The Bangsamoro Transition Authority can define its own internal districts, but it cannot waive that national safeguard.
The Comelec also has practical work to do. It must remap voter districts and precinct assignments, print ballots specific to each district, and configure the automated election system, among other tasks.
How the region got here is a long tug-of-war among regional lawmaking, national statute and Supreme Court rulings. The Bangsamoro Organic Law was ratified in early 2019, creating BARMM from Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, plus the Cotabato barangays that opted in. It set the first parliamentary election for May 2022. RA 11593, signed Oct. 28, 2021, moved it to May 12, 2025, citing the pandemic and the unfinished electoral code. The transition authority passed the Bangsamoro Electoral Code on March 8, 2023, and the first districting act, BAA 58, on Feb. 28, 2024.
Then came the Supreme Court's Sept. 9, 2024 ruling. It held Sulu's inclusion in BARMM unconstitutional because the province voted No in the 2019 plebiscite. That left vacant the seven seats allocated to Sulu in a parliament designed to have 80. RA 12123, enacted Feb. 19, 2025, moved the election to Oct. 13, 2025. On Aug. 19, 2025, the transition authority passed BAA 77, reallocating Sulu's seats to other provinces.
The Court struck down BAA 77 on Sept. 30, 2025. It found the law was passed after the election period began on Aug. 14, 2025, in violation of the 120-day rule, and that it failed the requirement that districts cover contiguous local government units. The Court ordered a compliant districting law, attentive to contiguity and population size, by Oct. 30, 2025. It acknowledged Congress's power to postpone and reset election dates, but canceled the Oct. 13 vote and told the Comelec to hold the election by March 31, 2026.
The new law did not arrive by that October deadline. On Dec. 22, 2025, the Comelec, in Resolution 11183, suspended the filing of certificates of candidacy that had been scheduled for Jan. 5 to 9, 2026. Without a districting law, candidates could not file for specific district seats.
Now a valid map exists, but the 120-day rule and the calendar stand in the way, and the Comelec is looking to Congress. Three bills are pending. Senate Bill 1587, by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, proposes March 30 as the final election date, which would require Congress to waive the 120-day rule. Senate Bill 2862, introduced by Sen. Francis Escudero on Nov. 5, 2024, sets the vote for May 11, 2026. House Bill 7236, by Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, sets it for Sept. 28, 2026. It would also keep the transition authority as the interim government until elected officials take office on Dec. 1, 2026, reopen the filing of candidacy certificates, and require the automated system used in the 2025 midterm elections.
What to watch is which bill Congress takes up, and how it squares with the Supreme Court's March 31 deadline, which only Congress's power to reset dates appears able to move.
Citations marquantes
While the BTA can define its internal districts, it lacks the legal muscle to waive the 120-day rule.— Column author, The Manila Times (paraphrase)
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