AS the Commission on Elections (Comelec) deliberates on the fate of the October 13 Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE), the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) yesterday expressed opposition to its looming postponement.
In its comment submitted to the Comelec, Lente said: “The Comelec is duty-bound to enforce and administer all laws relative to the conduct of an election, Republic Act No. 11054, as amended by Republic Act No. 12123, which requires the conduct of elections for the Bangsamoro Government on 13 October 2025.
“Following its constitutional mandate and requirement of the law, Comelec, as a matter of general course, must conduct the BARMM Parliamentary Elections on 13 October 2025,” it added.
The poll watchdog said the temporary restraining order (TRO) the Supreme Court (SC) issued is not an adequate cause to postpone the entirety of the BPE since it is limited in application to the implementation of Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 77, which only affects candidates for district representatives.
“In other words, Comelec cannot invoke and stretch the TRO beyond its narrow scope to justify a blanket suspension of the 13 October 2025 elections,” said Lente.
This, it said, means that it is possible to hold the BPE on October 13, as required by RA 12123, specifically about the seats allocated to the party representatives and sectoral representatives.
“The effective legal framework for the conduct of elections is provided by the Omnibus Election Code, the Bangsamoro Election Code, and other relevant election laws and issuances; thus, the assemblies for sectoral representatives and the elections for the regional parliamentary political party representative on 13 October 2025 can proceed, because there is no law preventing their conduct,” Lente stressed.
The group said it is not acceptable for the Comelec to use the “force majeure” concept in postponing the October 13 polls.
It said this is because it was the Comelec itself that decided on the suspension of preparations for the conduct of the BPE.
“The suspension of preparations for the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections falls within the notion of a human intervention that affected the alleged impossibility of the conduct of elections,” said Lente.
“Thus, the alleged event, the issuance of the TRO, is removed from the ambit of force majeure. Comelec cannot, therefore, invoke force majeure as a ground for the postponement of the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections,” it added.
Last Thursday, the Comelec said it is now strongly considering the postponement of the BPE, which is only two weeks away.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia noted that it is now “legally and factually impossible” to hold the BPE as scheduled.
Garcia said the Commission en banc is looking to come out with a final decision on whether to postpone the BPE or not this week.
