DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 26 November) — Four major political parties in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) asserted that members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) who are running in next year’s historic parliamentary election are deemed resigned if the polls will be postponed.
This was the position submitted to the Senate and the House of Representative by the BARMM Grand Coalition (BGC), Serbisyong Inklusibo- Alyansang Progresibo (SIAP), Bangsamoro People’s Party (BPP), and the Al Ittihad – Ungaya sa Kwagib Nu Bangsamoro (AL ITTIHAD).
They asked Congress that if ever a postponement law is passed, it must clearly state the status of BTA members seeking Bangsamoro parliamentary seats.
“It must provide that BTA members and ministers who are candidates in the elections are ipso facto (by the very fact or act) resigned and disqualified for appointment or reappointment in the BTA before the elections,” the political parties said in a statement released on Tuesday.
They also proposed that there should be no new filing of candidacies if the elections are postponed.
The political parties support the position of Senate President Francis Escudero that Sec. 8, Art. IV and Sec. 3, Art X of the Bangsamoro Election Code, which allow incumbent BTA members and ministers who filed their certificates of candidacies (COCs) and nominees in the regional party list elections to continue in office, are unconstitutional and violative of national laws.
Escudero filed a measure seeking to postpone the May 12, 2025 to May 11, 2026. A similar bill was authored in the Lower House by Speaker Martin Romualdez. The 80-member BTA, the interim body tasked to govern the Bangsamoro government, had approved a resolution moving the first parliamentary elections from 2025 to 2028.
In their two-page position paper, the political parties asserted that Section 2(4), Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution is clear “that no officer of the civil service shall engage in partisan political campaign,” and that the act of filing a certificate of candidacy constitutes a partisan political activity.
They also cited that Republic Act 8436 or the Automated Election Law as amended by R.A 9369 implements the Constitution by providing that “any person holding a public appointive office or position, including active members of the armed forces, and officers and employees in government-owned or-controlled corporations, shall be considered ipso facto resigned from his/her office and must vacate the same at the start of the day of the filing of his/her certification of candidacy.”
The political parties also stated that Section 66 of the Omnibus Election Code reiterates the same rule that “any person holding a public appointive office or position, shall be considered ipso facto resigned from his office upon the filing of his COC.”
The position paper also cited the Supreme Court decision on Quinto vs. Comelec, where it ruled as constitutional Section 4(a) of COMELEC Resolution No. 8678 which provides that “any person holding a public appointive office or position including active members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and other officers and employees in government-owned or controlled corporations, shall be considered ipso facto resigned from his office upon the filing of his certificate of candidacy.”
“Since BTA members including the Interim Chief Minister of BARMM are appointed by the President and ministers and other executive officials in the BTA are appointed by the Interim Chief Minister, they must be deemed resigned upon the filing of their certificates of candidacy,” it said.
At least 35 BTA members, some serving as ministers, have filed their COCs as parliamentary district candidates or nominees in the regional party system last November 4 to 9.
The political parties also urge Congress to include in the postponement law “that the filings of candidacies on November 4 to 9 is controlling and no new filing of COCs must anymore be allowed.”
The right to suffrage, according to the position paper, includes the right to be voted upon, “and rights of candidates are violated when rules are changed after they have already complied with all the requirements.”
Furthermore, such invalidation and the requirement of filing new COCs, Manifestation of Intent to Participate, List of Nominees, Certificate of Acceptance of Nomination would entail unnecessary expense on the part of the candidates.
The position paper said the proposals of the political parties are “meant to insure that the electoral rules in the BARMM elections are fair and in accordance with the law in order to realize the commitment of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for peaceful and credible elections in the BARMM.”
“The approval and inclusion of the amendments will bring to life the said promise,” according to the group. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)
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