SENATE President Francis “Chiz” Escudero has asked President Marcos Jr. to replace 35 of the 40 officials of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) who have filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the 2025 Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections.
In a press conference, Escudero said the 35 BTA officials should be deemed resigned from their positions in compliance with the Constitution and the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) which state that appointive officials are deemed automatically resigned from their positions once they file their COCs and seek elective positions.
Escudero said he met with the President last Tuesday to air his concern that the 35 BTA executives might use their positions to further their election bids.
“The President guaranteed that he will decide on the matter,” he said, adding that Marcos can name new appointees to the BTA without Congress passing a new law since he was the one who appointed the 40 officials anyway.
Escudero said the presidential action is necessary as he noted the conflict between the Constitution, the OEC, and the implementing rules and regulations of the BTA.
He noted that under the implementing rules of the BTA, “all appointed officials” are not considered resigned even if they have filed their COCs.
On the other hand, the Constitution and the OEC state that all appointive officials are deemed automatically resigned once they file their COCs and seek elective posts.
“Ang pangako natin sa mga kababayan natin sa BARMM ay malinis, pantay, at tapat na halalan. (Pero) nakita namin sa IRR na lahat ng appointed officials na nag-file ng COC ay hindi considered resigned. Pati mga matatalo ay hindi sakop sa one-year ban (We promised BARMM residents that they will have a clean, fair, and honest elections. But we can see that under the IRR, all appointed officials who filed their COCs are not considered resigned. Even those who will lose are not covered by the one-year ban),” Escudero said.
He said that under the Constitution and the OEC, “labag sa Saligang Batas, hindi puwedeng makilahok sa political activity ang civil service workers. Klaro para sa akin ang provision ng Constitution – ipso facto resigned ang sinumang tatakbo, walang exempted doon maliban sa elected officials (that it is against the Constitution (for) civil service workers to join any political activity. The provision of the Constitution is clear – that any civil servant is ipso facto resigned if he files his COC. There is no exemption, except for elected officials).”
He stressed that the IRR of the BTA cannot supersede what is stated in the Constitution and what was passed by Congress, referring to the OEC.
Escudero said allowing the 35 BTA officials to continue performing their functions is “illegal” but admitted that the Supreme Court may have to decide on the matter since there are conflicting opinions regarding the matter.
“Hati rin ang desisyon ng Supreme Court kaugnay niyan. Ginagawa nila sa opisina ay hindi na valid, (pero) may mga nagsasabi rin na de facto valid ‘yun hanggang palitan (sila). Mas maagang mapag-desisyunan ito, mas maiiwasan ang mga problema (The Supreme Court is split on this matter. What they (BTA officials) are doing now in their office is invalid. There are some who are saying that they are only de facto [resigned] if they are replaced. The sooner this matter is resolved, the better so we can prevent complications),” he said.
He said it is immaterial if the BARMM elections, which is scheduled to be held simultaneously with the May 2025 polls, will be postponed to 2026 since the 35 BTA officials are already considered candidates in the upcoming electoral activity.
Escudero has filed a bill seeking to postpone the BARMM election from 2025 to May 2026 following the decision of the SC to exclude Sulu province from the region. A counterpart measure has also been filed at the House of Representatives by Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Meanwhile, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) undersecretary Wilben Mayor said they support proposals to defer the BARMM elections to 2026, saying that the one-year deferment would give the government time to implement several changes in the region.
In an interview at the “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” media forum, Mayor said: “Sa tingin po naman namin iyong isang taon po ng pagpapaliban ay sapat na po, dahil ito’y pagkakataon na rin sa BARMM, sa parliament ng BARMM at saka Kongreso para i-address po iyong mga legal issues na naging epekto po ng desisyon po ng Supreme Court na i-exclude po iyong Sulu province sa BARMM po (We think the one-year postponement is enough as this will give the BARMM Parliament and Congress enough time to address the legal issues that resulted from the decision of the Supreme Court to exclude Sulu province from BARMM),” he said.
He said among those that should be addressed include amendments to the electoral and local government codes of the region under the political track of the Comprehensive Agreement of Bangsamoro (CAB) that was signed between the government and MILF in 2014, and the completion of the decommissioning of combatants under the normalization track of the peace agreement.
He said at least 14,000 former MILF combatants still need to be decommissioned and eventually provided socio-economic and livelihood assistance. – With Jocelyn Montemayor
