Despite the issuance of a Supreme Court (SC) ruling that excluded Sulu from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the Bangsamoro Transition Authority seems reluctant to redistribute the 7 seats left by Sulu.
This was expressed by lawyer Omar Yaser Sema, Deputy BTA Parliament Speaker during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Local Government on Thursday, led by Senator Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito that tackled the bill filed by Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero seeking to defer the BARMM polls.
Sema argued that while the decision is immediately executory, there's still uncertainty on their part since there have been times wherein the SC has allowed to reverse itself on an En Banc resolution.
"Kapag nag-decide sila na (When they decide) with finality probably that's when we can move. We will decide whether or not to reallocate because currently right now hindi kami maka-reallocate (we cannot reallocate) because we are still looking at our brothers and sisters in Sulu," he said.
"Hindi ho namin sila maiwan. Hindi namin sila maiiwan (We cannot leave them behind. We cannot leave them) by reallocating the portion that have already been given to them under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and under the Bangsamoro Electoral Code (BEC)," he added.
According to Sema, there's now a motion for reconsideration pending before the SC and their next action hinges on the SC's resolution.
"We cannot go ahead of what we want to do as far as these laws are concerned because another branch of the government is tasked to make the necessary decision," he added.
Apart from the reasons he stated, Yaser said they are also considering "very fundamental issues" that touch on the very core of the Bangsamoro struggle.
"The inclusiveness of the region, we are one people, we are one homeland so di namin pwedeng kunin yung para sa Sulu...What is for Sulu, is for Sulu only. Yung pitong seats na yun, dapat sa kanila lang yun because pinaghirapan nila yun (Those seven seats, it should be for them because they worked hard for it)," he said.
"Our point here is while we are willing to do that even after the finality of the decision of the SC it would take a lot of thinking for us [to] reallocate yung (the) seven seats," he stated.
For his part, Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa expressed concern over waiting for SC's resolution which may result in another postponement. He also suggested that they operate based on the ruling in the meantime.
"Kung maghintay tayo ng SC ruling, baka mamaya next year, maextend na naman tayo...madrag yung issue, wala na mangyayari dyan, wala nang election na mangyari talaga, sige na lang tayo every year mag-extend (If we wait for the SC ruling, perhaps next year we'll get another extension...this issue will drag on, nothing will happen, there won't be any elections happening, we'll just keep extending every year)," he added.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian echoed Dela Rosa's statement and asked if there's anything that's prohibiting the Bangsamoro Parliament from reallocating the seats left by Sulu.
Sema replied that the SC resolution is yet to be final and that Sulu can still have seven seats. But Gatchalian said that this is "purely speculative" since the high court can either reverse the ruling or not.
Yet Sema said that they have no other option but to avail of the legal remedies available to them.
Ejercito said that BTA is still looking for a favorable resolution from the SC, which is what's hindering them from redistributing Sulu's seats.
He also stated that the hearing is not simply about determining whether the elections should proceed or not.
"The committee is looking forward to gain a deeper understanding of the rationale behind these proposals, ensuring that any recommendation made is well-informed and in the best interest of our brothers and sisters in BARMM," he added.
For the part of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), its chairman George Erwin Garcia said that they are ready to conduct the Bangsamoro election in 2025.
"Handa na po ang inyong Comelec, 'yun po ang dahilan kung bakit sinimulan namin ang pag-receive ng Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) nitong Nov. 4 (Comelec is ready, that's why we started receiving the Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) on Nov. 4)," he said.
However, the poll chief asked that there should be a development on whether it gets postponed or not, since they will be printing ballots by the last week of December and will finalize the list of candidates by December 13.
BARMM’s first parliamentary election is scheduled for 2025, but Escudero is pushing to have it on May 11, 2026, to allow the region to reconfigure its jurisdictions as well as reallocate the seats of its 80-member parliament following the High Court’s ruling cutting off Sulu from the BARMM.