The Commission Elections (Comelec) postponed for the third time the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary election, which had supposedly been scheduled for October 13. This follows the Supreme Court declaring the unconstitutionality of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Act 77 (BAA 77 or Redistricting Bill) that sought to transfer to other BARMM districts seven parliamentary seats originally allotted to Sulu.

The court ordered the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) to create a new district division and submit it to the court by October 30. It also rescheduled the election to the end of March 2026. This laid to waste the ₱1.2 billion already used by Comelec in preparing for the election.

The Moro people view the renewed postponement as another failure to implement genuine autonomy in their territories. Before the decision was released, they had already opposed Comelec’s suspension of preparations under the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order against BAA 77. They asserted that the election is not only about voting. More importantly, it represents respect for autonomy, recognition of peace agreements, and strengthening of the Moro people’s right to self-determination.