Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri has expressed confidence that the Senate’s move to reset the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will stand on solid legal ground and will not be struck down by the Supreme Court (SC) as unconstitutional.

Zubiri made the declaration during his sponsorship of Senate Bill No. 1823, resetting BARMM’s first regular parliamentary elections to the second Monday of September this year, effectively amending the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

During interpellation, Sen. Rodante Marcoleta expressed apprehensions that the bill could be rendered pointless if Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 86, the law that redraws BARMM’s parliamentary districts after a Supreme Court ruling excluded Sulu from the region, is later challenged before the High Court and struck down as unconstitutional.

“We will not be able to predict if someone will question this law and, of course, BAA 86. But I believe the Members of Parliament or the Bangsamoro Transition Authority were able to comply with the requirement of the Supreme Court to address the issues of unconstitutionality, particularly sa gerrymandering,” Zubiri explained.

“Talagang tinanggal na po nila yung malalayong lugar at sinama na po nila ang mga districts na contiguous (They really removed the far-flung areas and instead included the contiguous districts). So I trust the wisdom of this new BAA 86 to be compliant with the constitutional requirement brought about by the Supreme Court ruling,” he added.

BAA 77, the redistricting law before BAA 86, was earlier declared unconstitutional by the High Court that led to the cancellation of the BARMM parliamentary elections last Oct. 13, 2025. A lack of a valid districting law set off a scramble to address districting and election rules within the transition framework.

Zubiri chaired the subcommittee under the Senate Committee on Local Government that heard and approved SB 1823, gathering stakeholders in the Bangsamoro region for a hearing that lasted for more than four hours.

Zubiri informed Marcoleta that during that hearing, the bill had undergone intense legal vetting where respected legal figures weighed in on the updated Bangsamoro districting measure now in place.

“As a matter of fact, we had several legal luminaries during the hearing. Andun po si Justice Azcuna. At si Justice Azcuna mismo nagsabi na with these discussions, this was during the end of the committee hearing after four hours of listening to both sides, nagsalita po siya na he feels it will be compliant,” Zubiri said.

“Of course, we cannot guess what the court will decide later on, if there will be someone who will be filing a question before the Supreme Court on this particular issue. But we feel in the committee that we are compliant with the constitutional issues addressed by the Supreme Court ruling,” Zubiri stressed.

Marcoleta, for his part, underscored that the Senate’s confidence is also a matter of hope, pressing Zubiri on whether he shares the optimism that BAA 86 will pass constitutional review, especially given the stakes of delaying the region’s first regular elections further.

Zubiri warned that repeated postponements carry real consequences on the ground, especially in the Bangsamoro region, where the peace process hinges on a credible political transition that includes an electoral mandate.

“So kung palagi tayong postpone ng postpone ng postpone, magkakagiyera talaga muli sa amin sa Mindanao, particularly sa Bangsamoro region (So if we keep postponing and postponing and postponing, war will really break out again in Mindanao, particularly in the Bangsamoro region). Kaya we are hoping that the Supreme Court, this time, will render the new Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 86 as constitutional,” Zubiri said.