MARAWI CITY – The Bangsamoro Transition Authority, through its Committee on Rules, discussed the proposed Bangsamoro Electoral Code in a public consultation on Tuesday, Jan. 31, at the Lanao del Sur provincial capitol gymnasium here.

The gathering which tackled the provisions of the BTA Bill No. 29, otherwise known as an Act providing for the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, was attended by officials of the provincial government, executives of various local government units, and other stakeholders from different sectors who submitted their position paper and cited their recommendations and comments on the measure.

Gov. Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. stressed that a clean and peaceful election is a civic responsibility not only of the voters but also of the candidates and representatives of different government agencies directed to organize and secure every election.

The participation of each one in the plebiscite, whether national or local, is the most basic yet the most significant act of citizenship in democratic governance, he said.

In the Bangsamoro region, violence was never absent even when it was still called the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and its provinces are being labeled by the media as election hotspots.

Adiong hoped that in the rise and reformation of BARMM, the Bangsamoro Electoral Code will be established to help in this issue through the collective mandates and responsibility that are aligned not only with the Philippine Constitution and pertinent laws but of the principles of moral governance as well.

The provincial government has submitted its position paper containing their observations and suggestions on the Bangsamoro Electoral Code.

The document emphasized that the legality of drafting a law must acknowledge the principle of subordinate legislation and hierarchy of laws and proposed bills of BARMM must not clash with the existing Philippine acts.

As such, the provincial government recommended that the electoral code must be aligned with the 1987 Constitution.

Adiong said the scope of the code must only be limited with the formation of regional parliamentary elections in BARMM and must not signify the intention of pushing away the Commission on Elections which they firmly recognize as the constitutional body that holds the exclusive and original jurisdiction of administering elections and resolving election disputes in the country.