(UPDATE) THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has deferred the reconstitution of parliamentary districts in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) due to lack of time.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Thursday that with BARMM elections scheduled on Oct. 13, Comelec could not wait much longer for the passage of Parliament Bill 351, or the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Redistricting Act of 2025, which is still to be signed by the parliament speaker and the chief minister.

Garcia said the commission en banc has deferred the reconstitution to the next BARMM parliamentary elections “due to its impractical applications considering the time-bound milestone preparatory activities, onset of election and campaign periods, and to avoid voter confusion and disenfranchisement in the Bangsamoro Region.”, This news data comes from:http://www.771bg.com

He said the commission expects some opposition to its decision, but it is ready to defend it.

“If they want to question, then so be it,” Garcia said.

“No changes will be made on the ballots, in our preparations, the list of candidates. Our plans on the deployment of ballots, machines, election paraphernalia, among others, will stay,” Garcia said.

The Comelec has imposed a gun ban in the region following the start of the election period on Aug, 14, which will run until Aug. 28.

Comelec defers BARMM district reconstitution

The campaign period started on Aug. 28.

The printing of the 2.3 million ballots also resumed on Aug. 28 after it was temporarily stopped on Aug. 21, a day before the scheduled start of printing by the National Printing Office.

But President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed another law resetting the BARMM polls to Oct. 13.