FULL TEXT: Supreme Court Decision on Bangsamoro Redistricting Act of 2025
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- IAG Philippines
The Supreme Court, in its September 30, 2025 decision, has permanently struck down Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 77 (BAA 77), also known as the Bangsamoro Redistricting Act of 2025, declaring it unconstitutional and unfit to govern the October 13 parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“Despite the understandable excitement and enthusiasm in having an elected Bangsamoro Parliament, our emotions should not be allowed to run roughshod over having a properly constituted Bangsamoro Government,” the Court wrote in its decision authored by Justice Rodil V. Zalameda.
The ruling consolidated two petitions (G.R. Nos. E-02219 and E-02235) and granted relief to Bangsamoro voters and party nominees who challenged BAA 77’s legality. “We grant the Petitions. BAA 77 is unconstitutional. The TRO in our Resolution dated September 15, 2025 is thus made permanent.”
The Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was issued on September 15, 2025, suspending the implementation and enforcement of BAA 77. In compliance, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) halted all preparations for district, sectoral, and party representative elections in the region. As noted in the decision: “The suspension was to last ‘until the TRO is lifted, or the validity of BAA 77 is resolved.’”
The Court cited procedural violations, including the signing of BAA 77 without proper authority. As noted in the decision, BTA Speaker Pangalian Balindong declared: “The signature appearing as ‘for’ is unauthorized, void, and without legal effect, constituting a violation of law. Accordingly, [BAA 77] cannot be deemed signed or enacted.”
The Commission on Elections (COMELEC), in its Comment with Manifestation dated September 23, 2025, laid out the logistical and legal impossibility of enforcing Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 77 (BAA 77) in time for the October 13, 2025 parliamentary elections. It warned that enforcing the redistricting law “would cause massive confusion among the more than 2.25 million registered voters across BARMM’s 105 municipalities and three cities, as the redistricting will heavily impact precinct assignments.” COMELEC further emphasized that “short of sufficient time, respondent COMELEC cannot be reasonably expected to fulfill its purpose to ensure a free, orderly, peaceful and credible elections.”
READ: COMELEC Weighs Postponement of BARMM Elections Amid Supreme Court TRO and Flooding
The Supreme Court agreed. In its final ruling, the Court concluded that “the present circumstances do not allow the conduct of the October 13, 2025 BARMM Parliamentary Elections under either BAA 77 or BAA 58.”
COMELEC also underscored the legal vacuum created by the repeal of BAA 58 and the TRO against BAA 77, noting that it found itself “without a definitive statutory or judicial anchor to secure the validity of its preparations for the 2025 Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections.” It urged the Court to resolve the consolidated petitions “with reasonable dispatch, to remove any uncertainty in the conduct of the first-ever [BARMM] Parliamentary Elections, and to allow the [COMELEC] to fulfill its constitutional and legal mandate under the [Bangsamoro Organic Law] and the [Bangsamoro Electoral Code].”