The province of Sulu rejected the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) during the plebiscite in 2019, and this decision has continued to have implications for its participation in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
In November 2024, the Supreme Court denied motions that sought to reverse an earlier ruling, effectively excluding Sulu from BARMM.
In a recent update, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia confirmed that the upcoming Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections will be automated. He added that the ballots printed for the elections will include photos of all candidates, along with the logos of political parties.
Comelec had previously suspended the printing of the BARMM election ballots after the bicameral conference committee decided to move the election date to October 13, 2025. Garcia explained, ‘We halted the printing of ballots for the BARMM Parliamentary Elections because an enrolled bill moving the election date is likely to become law.’
Despite this delay, Garcia assured that the printing of ballots for the national and local elections in BARMM continues as scheduled. If the bill to move the BARMM parliamentary elections to October 13 is enacted, the Comelec will then evaluate whether the existing list of candidates will remain or if a new filing of candidacy will be necessary.
Under the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, Sulu was initially allocated seven of the 80 parliament seats. However, after the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the BOL in September 2024, the ruling confirmed that Sulu would no longer be part of BARMM, requiring a redistribution of the vacant seats.
As of now, the Comelec has reported that 109 candidates have filed for district representative seats in the 2025 Bangsamoro elections. The shift in representation following Sulu’s exclusion is set to impact the election landscape in the region.
