THE SUPREME COURT’S (SC) recent decision halting the Oct. 13 Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections has cleared the path for the scheduled December 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), a petitioner said on Sunday.
In a press statement, lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal said in nullifying Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) No. 77 and BAA No. 58, the main justification for Republic Act (RA) No. 12232, which postponed the December 2025 BSKE, has ceased to exist.
“There can be no BARMM parliamentary elections on October 13, 2025, because of the lack of a valid district law,” the SC ruled.
BAA No. 77, the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Redistricting Act of 2025, was declared unconstitutional for violating Section 5 of the Voter’s Registration Act, which bars altering precincts after the election period has begun.
BAA No. 58, the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Districts Act of 2024, was also struck down as the SC argued it cannot be revived since it was based on an outdated framework that still included Sulu as part of BARMM.
“There is no more legal or practical means to justify the postponement,” Mr. Macalintal, who filed the petition challenging the postponement of the BSKE, said.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) had earlier indicated that delaying the BSKE to November 2026 would require an additional P4 billion and would frustrate the voting hopes of 2.7 million newly registered voters. “These voters registered from August 1-10 and expected to participate in the December BSKE for the first time,” Mr. Macalintal said.
According to the petitioner, the postponement of the BARMM elections has already wasted nearly a billion pesos in manpower and ballot printing costs, and additional millions will be needed to conduct the polls no later than March 31, 2026, as directed by the SC.
Mr. Macalintal urged Comelec to resume preparations for the December BSKE. “If Comelec continued preparations for the BSKE while the BARMM postponement issue was pending, there is no reason it should not continue now,” he said.
He also called on the SC to immediately resolve petitions challenging RA 12232’s BSKE postponement, emphasizing the need to uphold the principles of genuine and periodic elections.
“The Supreme Court should either decide on the pending petitions or direct Comelec to continue with BSKE preparations to ensure electoral integrity,” Mr. Macalintal added.
The high court has yet to issue a final resolution on the petitions against the BSKE postponement. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking