COTABATO CITY(July 2) — An advocacy group has warned that unresolved legal challenges could cast uncertainty over the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), urging the Supreme Court to resolve all pending petitions before the landmark September 2026 polls to protect the region’s hard-won peace process.
Amana-BARMM said prolonged legal uncertainty risks creating confusion ahead of the historic parliamentary elections, which it described as a crucial milestone in implementing the Bangsamoro peace agreement.
“The Supreme Court is now the last constitutional forum that can prevent confusion before election day,” convenor Maulana Mamutuk said.
“We traveled far to be heard because the Bangsamoro people cannot be treated as an afterthought,” he added, referring to recent rallies in Cotabato City, Lanao del Sur and Manila that the group said reflected growing public calls for institutions to respond to the people’s concerns.
Co-convenor Alim Saad Amate said the BARMM elections go beyond ordinary politics, calling them a constitutional test of decades of armed struggle, peace negotiations and the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
“The BARMM is not only an election issue. It is a constitutional peace issue,” Amate said.
“It came from struggle, sacrifice, peace talks, and the CAB. These gains must be protected.”
The group urged the high court to carefully review petitions involving political representation, governance and the Bangsamoro transition under the Bangsamoro Organic Law, arguing that a timely ruling would strengthen public confidence in the electoral process.
Amana-BARMM said resolving the cases before election day would help ensure that the first regular BARMM parliamentary elections are lawful, orderly, credible and free from chaos while safeguarding the gains of a peace process built over decades of negotiations.
