Filed
First Reading
Second Reading — Committee
Second Reading — Plenary
Third Reading
Approved
EnactedNow
Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 35
In forceAn Act Providing for the Bangsamoro Electoral Code of BARMM
Provides for the Bangsamoro Electoral Code of BARMM.
Filed
First Reading
Second Reading — Committee
Second Reading — Plenary
Third Reading
Approved
EnactedNow
Signed into law and operative unless later amended or repealed.
What this measure does
This is the rulebook for how the Bangsamoro elects its own parliament. Before it, the region had no election law of its own — the Bangsamoro Organic Law required one, and this Code is it.
It sets the shape of an 80-member Parliament: half the seats go to party representatives elected region-wide, 40 percent to district representatives elected by their own districts, and 10 percent — at least 8 seats — are reserved for sectors. Those reserved seats are named: two each for Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples and for settler communities, and one each for women, youth, traditional leaders, and the 'Ulama. A voter who belongs to more than one of those sectors may register in up to three of them.
It also builds the machinery around the vote. It establishes the Bangsamoro Electoral Office as COMELEC's arm in the region, and a Bangsamoro Registration and Accreditation Committee to register and accredit regional political parties, subject to COMELEC en banc approval. Parties must meet standards to register, and candidates for the reserved seats must be certified by the relevant ministry on the basis of a track record of advocacy for that sector, then declare their sector under oath.
The Code is written to push politics away from personalities and towards parties: it says so directly, instructing that where a provision is ambiguous, the reading that strengthens party-based parliamentary politics wins.
Why it was proposed
The Bangsamoro Organic Law obliges the region to enact its own electoral code, and no parliamentary election could be held without one. Members debating it framed it as more than compliance: the first election law written for a parliamentary system in the Philippines, and the instrument that would let the first Bangsamoro parliamentary election proceed.
Who it affects
- Every registered voter in the BARMM, who will vote for party, district, and sectoral representatives under a system that did not exist before.
- Regional political parties, which must register and be accredited, and meet the Code's standards to field candidates.
- Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples, settler communities, women, youth, traditional leaders, and the 'Ulama — the six groups holding reserved seats.
- Anyone seeking a seat: district candidates face a one-year residency requirement, and sectoral nominees must be certified and must swear to their sector.
Who would implement it
- Commission on Elections (COMELEC), which retains authority over the conduct of elections and approves party accreditation en banc
- Bangsamoro Electoral Office (BEO), COMELEC's office in the region, whose organizational structure and staffing COMELEC determines
- Bangsamoro Registration and Accreditation Committee (BRAC), which registers and accredits regional political parties
- The ministries and regional agencies that certify sectoral candidates, which were given 120 days from promulgation to issue their certification guidelines
- Local governments, which continue to fund election boards, canvassing, forms, and voting centers
Funding
No appropriation. The Code carries no appropriation of its own. The BEO's budget forms part of COMELEC's yearly budget, and the Bangsamoro Parliament may add to it — the Code provides for an election reserve fund in an election year, including for the assemblies that elect sectoral representatives. Local governments keep paying for election boards, forms, paraphernalia, and voting centers.
What changes if it becomes law
- The region gains an election law of its own, making a Bangsamoro parliamentary election legally possible for the first time.
- 8 seats are set aside for sectors that would otherwise have to win an ordinary contest to be represented.
- Half of Parliament is elected by party rather than by locality, which shifts campaigning towards platforms and party lists.
- Regional parties acquire a registration and accreditation process, and a body to run it.
- Ministries acquire a new duty: certifying that a sectoral candidate genuinely represents that sector.
Raised during deliberations
- MP Alamia voted yes but said she would keep pressing for wider inclusion of women and marginalised sectors inside regional political parties.
- MP Maglangit voted yes while recording a reservation: she believes in wider and bigger representation of women in Parliament than the Code provides.
- MP Arnado gave four reasons for her vote, singling out the anti-political-dynasty provision as the first of its kind in the country, and a provision discouraging non-biodegradable campaign materials.
- MP Basman argued the Code cements women's participation in practical terms, noting it requires a concrete women's agenda before a party can register.
- MP Ali, Jr. noted the Code went through a series of consultations with COMELEC, and that it would enable the first parliamentary election in the region in 2025.
- MP Alih framed it as asymmetry made real — a system built for the region rather than copied from the national one — and cited the 30 percent women requirement in party representation and the anti-dynasty provision.
- Passed on Third and Final Reading by nominal voting, 64 in favor, none against, no abstentions (Journal No. 21, 7 March 2023).
What to notice
The reserved seats are the part to watch. 8 seats out of eighty is a floor, not a ceiling, and the Code hands the ministries a gatekeeping role — a sectoral candidate needs a certification of advocacy before standing. That makes the certification guidelines, due within 120 days of promulgation, as consequential as the seat count itself: they decide who is allowed to claim a sector. The other thing to watch is that the Code says out loud which way to resolve ambiguity — towards party-based politics — which is unusual, and tells you what its drafters expected to be argued about.
How to take part
PDF on the Bangsamoro Autonomy Acts index at parliament.bangsamoro.gov.ph and the Official Gazette of the Bangsamoro.