COTABATO CITY โ With Sulu officially removed from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), lawmakers in the regional parliament are now gearing up to reallocate its seven parliamentary districts ahead of BARMM’s first-ever elections in October 2025.
This move follows a landmark Supreme Court decision earlier this year, which granted a petition by Sulu Governor Hadji Abdusakur Mahail Tan, Sr. to exclude the province from BARMM’s core territory. The ruling marked a significant shift in the regionโs political landscape โ and has prompted urgent legal and administrative work within the Bangsamoro Parliament.
On Monday, April 8, two members of the 80-seat parliament โ lawyers Jose Iribani Lorena and Omar Yasser Crisostomo Sema โ addressed reporters during a dialogue at the BARMM Capitol in Cotabato City. They underscored the importance of resolving the reallocation before the scheduled regional polls.
Parliament Representation Based on Needs
โThere are legal complexities involved, and we need to study these thoroughly,โ Lorena said, pointing out that each of Suluโs former districts had an appointed lawmaker.
Sema, for his part, emphasized that any redistribution of districts will be based on real needs and validated demands for fair representation across the regionโs provinces and cities. โThat can be done. We in the parliament will make sure it happens,โ he said.
Chief Minister Abdulrauf Abdul Macacua sees the reallocation of Sulu’s districts as a top priority. In his first address to the parliament on Monday, Macacua stressed the urgency of the task, linking it to broader goals of equitable governance in the region.
Administration Priorities
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. appointed Macacua, a veteran of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) central committee. He succeeded Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, the region’s first chief minister and also a senior MILF leader. Marcos likewise reappointed several parliament members, some of whom had served since BARMMโs creation in 2019 under former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In his speech, Macacua outlined his administrationโs priorities: strengthening peace and security, boosting regional revenues, ensuring food security, and expanding healthcare and social welfare programs. These efforts, he said, would serve all communities in BARMM โ Muslim, Christian, and indigenous non-Moro alike.
With less than a year to go before Bangsamoroโs historic parliamentary elections, the pressure is on for lawmakers to finalize the district reallocation and ensure every community in the region has a voice.
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