The first election of members of parliament (MPs) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) ) is set for May 12, 2025, in conjunction with the national and local polls. The national government postponed the schedule from 2022 to 2025 due generally to the adversities of COVID-19 and the absence of a Bangsamoro Electoral Code (BEC).

Elected MPs would assume office on June 30, 2025, and succeed the appointed MPs of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim parliament and governing body of BARMM. .

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Background

When BARMM was established in 2019 in replacement of the 29-year-old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the BTA served as a transitional parliament composed of appointed MPs, 41 of whom were nominated by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and the 39 others chosen by the national government from various sectors including the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

BARMM’s birth is under the 2013 Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro (FAB) and the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB), which the MILF forged with the national government and served as a major basis of R.A.11054 (BARMM charter) known as also Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

The FAB and CAB were the last of accords involved in the Mindanao peace process that began with the signing of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement between the MNLF and Malacañang. The 1976 accord preceded other MNLF deals with the state, including 1996 that expanded the ARMM territory set in 1990 under the Coro Aquino administration to replace the two regional autonomous regions established in 1977 by the preceding Marcos Sr. government.

Two sets of Interim MPs

President Duterte inaugurated in Cotabato City the BARMM’s interim governance in 2020, shortly after appointing the first set of BTA members led by interim Chief Minister Ahod “Hadji Murad” Ebrahim for a term ending in 2022. Due to the postponement of the parliament election in 2022, succeeding President Bongbong Marcos named the second set of MPs. Ebrahim has been appointed anew as ICM Ebrahim.

No More Extension

A few months ago, CSOs involved mostly in the campaign for the extension of BTA lifespan from 2022 to 2025 tried to push for another postponement of parliament polls to 2028. But the Marcos administration overruled any stride for a second BTA extension, even as President Marcos in a meeting in Manila on June 24 reportedly urged the BARMM-based mayors to get ready for a peaceful parliament election next year.

In an earlier assembly in Cotabato City of his United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), CM Ebrahim disclosed that President Marcos had advised him and other interim BARMM officials to undergo elections to gain a stronger mandate from the masses this time.

Electoral system

Eighty (80) seats will be contested in the 2025 Parliament elections. One-half (40 seats) shall be representatives of political parties voted upon by the regional electorate. Thirty-two (32) MPs will be elected in BARMM districts. The eight remaining seats are reserved for two non-Moro Indigenous Peoples, two for settler communities, and one each for the women, youth, traditional leaders, and ulama sectors.

The IPs, settlers, traditional leaders, and Ulama representatives shall be elected in their convention/assembly separate from the parliamentary elections. Their names should be submitted to the Commission on Elections seven days before the parliamentary elections and would be proclaimed simultaneously with the rest of the MPs.

COMELEC-set Calendar of Activities (see attached screenshot)