THE Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) urged the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, to immediately pass a law that will set the new parliamentary districts of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm).
In a statement, Lente asked the BTA to pass a new redistricting law on or before the October 30 deadline given by the Supreme Court (SC).
"Lente calls on the Bangsamoro Transition Authority to immediately enact a new and constitutionally compliant redistricting law before 30 October 2025," it said.
"The BTA must treat this as an urgent democratic obligation to prevent another deferral of the Bangsamoro people’s right to choose their representatives," it added.
And in crafting a new law, the poll watchdog said the BTA must use the Supreme Court ruling as guide to ensure that it will be constitutionally compliant.
"The grounds provided by the Supreme Court in declaring BAA 77 as unconstitutional shall serve to guide the BTA in finalizing the redistricting law," it said.
"Lente understands that the redistricting law has always been a controversial and political measure in the BTA, but this is an opportune moment for the body to show that it can pass a constitutionally compliant law despite all the political pressures," added Lente.
Earlier, the Supreme Court ruled to declare as unconstitutional both the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 58 and 77.
In turn, the Supreme Court directed the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) to craft a new districting law by October 30, 2025.
The decision, thus, resulted in the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections being moved by the Supreme Court to no later than March 31, 2026.
In an interview on Tuesday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) renewed its offer to help the BTA in crafting a new law.
"We are willing to help the Bangsamoro parliament pass a law. We will help them in districting," said Comelec Chairman George Garcia. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)