STAKEHOLDERS in the coming Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) yesterday challenged before the Supreme Court (SC) the constitutionality of the recently-enacted Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 77, also known as the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Redistricting Act of 2025.
The petitioners, which included several Bangsamoro parliamentarians and leaders of Lanao del Sur-based civil society groups, urged the SC to issue a temporary restraining order against the implementation of BAA 77, saying that the law was passed despite the lack of consultation, aside from violating existing laws.
BAA 77 was signed into law last August 28 by Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua.
The petitioners also said that the law would disrupt the electoral process for the BARMM polls, which is set on October 13.
Among those who signed the petition is Abdullah Macaapar, known by the nom de guire “Kumander Bravo” as a commander in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and now a BARMM parliamentarian.
“We are here to appeal before the Supreme Court and we also would like to tell our President (President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) and all Filipinos that we belong to only one country,” Macaapar said n Filipino.
Another petitioner, Sultan Saadi, said the law was passed despite the lack of consultation, especially in affected areas in Lanao del Sur.
“This is against existing laws because its proponents did not conduct enough consultation in the affected areas,” Saadi also said in Filipino.
For his part, Abu Mujai Maulana, another petitioner and civil society member, highlighted the timing of the law’s passage, noting that it was enacted just 44 days before the scheduled October polls in BARMM.
Maulana said many municipalities have been negatively affected by the passage of the assailed law.
He said residents from the town of Kapai Bayabao, Pualas at Tubaran have been protesting that they were not consulted regarding the law.
The Bangsamoro Parliament on August 19 approved on third and final reading BAA 77, which reconstituted the 33 parliamentary districts in the BARMM.
The Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament said its passage will distribute the seven seats originally allotted to Sulu before the SC ruled to exclude the province from the coverage of the BARMM.
The reconfigured parliamentary districts is the following: two for the special geographic area in Cotabato, nine for Lanao del Sur, five each for Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur, four each for Basilan and Tawi Tawi, and three for Cotabato City.
It was the second such petition to be filed with the SC questioning BAA 77.
Last Friday a group led by Deputy Speaker of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority Lanang Ali Jr., along with Dr. Mahdie Amella of the League of Bangsamoro Organizations, and Dats Magon of the Federation of Bangsamoro Councils of the Philippines also asked the SC to struck down the said law.
