MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has completed printing the ballots for the Oct. 13, 2025 Bangsamoro parliamentary elections after briefly suspending the process to assess the impact of a last-minute redistricting law.

Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said over the weekend that the suspension was prompted by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority’s (BTA) approval of a measure redrawing district boundaries and redistributing seven seats originally assigned to Sulu province.

Sulu, however, was excluded from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) following a 2024 Supreme Court ruling. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. later placed the island province under the administrative jurisdiction of Region IX or the Zamboanga Peninsula.

The printing resumed on Aug. 27 at the National Printing Office in Quezon City after the Comelec, meeting in executive session, ruled that implementing the new law at this stage would derail the election calendar.

“The elections on October 13 will push through, but only 73 of the 80 parliamentary seats will be contested,” Laudiangco said, noting that the redistricting law would disqualify some candidates and require new ballot templates — changes that could not be accommodated without delaying the polls.

Comelec completes ballot printing for Bangsamoro elections despite redistricting dispute

He added that the amendments to the Bangsamoro Electoral Code could instead take effect in the 2028 elections.

The issue of Sulu’s seven parliamentary seats remains unresolved. Options include filling them through presidential appointment or special elections, but Laudiangco stressed that these would not affect the October vote.

Roughly 2.3 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots in what will be BARMM’s first regular parliamentary elections since its creation in 2019 under the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). The polls will end the interim rule dominated by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and are regarded as a milestone in consolidating peace in a region long scarred by armed conflict.

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