Despite SC’s TRO, fight to assert redistricting law continues
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 17 Sept) — Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua said the Supreme Court’s issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the implementation of Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 77 or the redistricting law that distributed the seven parliamentary district seats originally intended for Sulu to the other Bangsmaoro areas, does not invalidate the law.
“The TRO merely halts its enforcement pending the final resolution of the petitions,” Macacua said, adding that the law “remains a valid enactment of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament, which enjoys the presumption of regularity, until such time that the Court renders its final judgment.”
Macacua said the Bangsamoro Government will file its comment within the prescribed period, confident that it would be able to “present our position and uphold the mandate entrusted to us under the Bangsamoro Organic Law.”
The Supreme Court on Monday issued a TRO barring the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the BTA from implementing BAA 77, pending the final resolution of the two petitions filed before it. The court gave them five non-extendible days to file their comment.
The political implications of the TRO are being interpreted differently by various political figures.
For BTA Deputy Speaker and Bangsamoro Party (BAPA) first nominee Atty. Omar Crisostomo Sema, who is affiliated with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)-Sema Wing, the TRO is not a setback to their long-standing aspiration.
“There is still hope for Sulu,” Sema posted on his Facebook page. The MNLF-Sema wing has been a strong advocate for the return of Sulu province to the BARMM region, a place they consider the origin of the Moro resistance.
But another BTA Deputy Speaker, Atty. Lanang Ali of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), viewed the Supreme Court’s action as a clarifying moment for the upcoming elections.
Ali said the TRO is a “clear sign the election will push through on October 13, 2025.” He said the legal framework for the polls would now revert to BAA No. 58 which created the 32 parliamentary districts last year that included seven for Sulu. But in September last year, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision, ruled that Sulu is not part of the BARMM because Sulu voted against the ratification fo RA 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonmous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in January 2019.
According to him, the direct effect on the composition of the future Bangsamoro Parliament: “Section 4 of BAA 77 can no longer be used for the election on October 13, 2025. This means the Ppesident can no longer appoint seven MPs to make it 80 MPs after the election. Only 73 MPs will be elected in the October 13, 2025, election.”
Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia on Tuesday said the electoral body will meet en banc on Wednesday to discuss the TRO and its impact on the preparations for the October 13 polls.
Garcia on August 28 said they cannot implement BAA 77 for next month’s election, citing lack of material time, among others. The redistricting measure was signed into law by Macacua on August 28, the first day of the 45-day campaign period. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrerar / MindaNews)
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