The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the inclusion of Cotabato City in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) as it upheld the result of the Jan. 21, 2019 plebiscite conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
With the ruling handed down in Baguio City last Jan. 10, the SC dismissed the petition which challenged the conduct of the plebiscite, the inclusion of Cotabato City in the BARMM, and the ratification of Bangsamoro Organic Law.
Based on the certificate of canvass of votes after the plebiscite, a total of 38,682 individuals voted in favor of the inclusion, while 24,994 individuals voted against it.
Thereafter, the Comelec declared the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law and the incorporation of Cotabato City in the BARMM.
The petition against the conduct and the result of the plebiscite was filed on Feb. 28, 2019 by Amil P. Sula, Gaspar S. Asi, and Hussein K. Malik, Sr. against the Comelec in its capacity as the National Plebiscite Board of Canvassers.
Neither the copy of the petition nor the decision was available. The SC’s public information office (PIO) issued a summary of the decision
The PIO said that in dismissing the petition, the SC ruled that “the Commission on Elections complied with the requirements of the Bangsamoro Organic Law in conducting a plebiscite.”
It said the SC “emphasized the constitutional mandate of the Commission to guarantee the proper exercise of the right of suffrage which the Supreme Court will not interfere with if there is no grave abuse of discretion.”
It also said the SC found that “the petitioners failed to substantiate with the necessary evidence their allegations of fraud in the conduct of the plebiscite.”
“The mere allegation that the inclusion of Cotabato City in the newly-formed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was not the true intention of the voters of Cotabato City will not persuade this Court to overturn the actions of the Commission on Elections,” the PIO said quoting from the decision.
It said it will upload in the SC’s website a copy of the decision in GR No. 244587 once an official copy is available.
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