Just before the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) held its first parliamentary elections, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on September 16, halting the planned redistribution of seven parliamentary seats that originally belonged to Sulu province.
The Supreme Court issued the TRO in opposition to a newly enacted law that required redistribution of the Sulu parliamentary seats.
During a special en banc session on September 15, the Court ordered the consolidation of two cases concerning this legislation, known as the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) No. 77 or the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Redistricting Act of 2025.
The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) are now prohibited from enforcing the law due to the immediately effective TRO, which will remain in place until the Supreme Court makes a final decision on the two cases.
“Now, therefore, effective immediately and continuing until further orders from this Court, You, respondents Commission on Elections, Bangsamoro Transition Authority, and all persons acting under your authority, are hereby ENJOINED from enforcing Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 77 pending the final resolution of these cases,” an excerpt of the resolution, signed by Clerk of Court Marife Lomibao-Cuevas.
After the issuance of the TRO, Comelec said that it will discuss a possible halting of the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections.
“The Comelec en banc needs to discuss the temporary restraining order and its impact on the holding of the parliamentary elections in October.
We need to determine if we need to cease all preparations for the elections,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia said.
In accordance with a Supreme Court decision that excluded Sulu from BARMM, the BTA enacted the BAA 77 on August 19th, which calls for the rearrangement of the parliamentary seats; however, this was not ratified by the locals.
The SC decided last year that Sulu is not a member of the Bangsamoro area, yet the petitioners argued it violated the Voter's Registration Act.
The Bangsamoro administration relinquished control of the Sulu police to the Zamboanga peninsula on Monday.
