THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said it is pushing forward with its preparations for the October 13 Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE), saying it “cannot wait forever” for the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) to act on what to do with the seven allocated seats for Sulu province.
Elections chairman George Garcia said they have directed the Project Management Office (PMO) for the BPE 2025 to begin their preparations with the seats to be elected set at 73.
“As far as the Comelec is concerned, we will be preparing for the 73 seats. If we delay our preparations further while waiting for the 80 seats, we may run out of time,” Garcia said in a media forum.
“We have already given instructions to the PMO of the BPE to begin preparations for the 73 seats. It would be risky to just go on and wait for the 80 seats. What if there is none? We cannot wait forever,” he added.
The exclusion of the Sulu province from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) by the Supreme Court (SC) was among the reasons for the postponement of the BPE from May 12 to October 13.
The delay was necessary as is still a need for the BTA to amend the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Districts Act of 2024 and decide what to do with the seven parliamentary seats originally allocated for Sulu.
Last week, the Comelec said it will be waiting for the BTA until May 30 to make a decision on what to do with the parliamentary seats previously assigned to Sulu before preparing for the parliamentary polls.
The poll body has said that the decision on the Sulu seats is crucial as it would determine if there is still a need to reopen the filing of certificates of candidacy or not.
Garcia said they need to start preparing for the elections since the Comelec only has five months to do so.
“An election usually needs a year to prepare. We only have five months to do it for the BPE. Each day is important, especially since we are using the automated election system,” he said.
Nevertheless, the poll chief assured that they will continue to be open to the decision of the BTA as long as they can.
“We told them we can have a continuing discussion on the matter, and that we only want to emphasize to the (BARMM) parliament its urgency,” Garcia said.
