Metro Manila, Philippines – The Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament is eyeing December as its deadline to pass a redistricting law so that the autonomous region can hold its first parliamentary elections next year.

Jet Lim, the parliament floor leader and spokesperson, said committees are studying and consolidating six districting bill versions.

“The parliament is committed to an inclusive, transparent, and legally compliant districting process and aims to complete and pass the districting law by December 2025, in line with the Bangsamoro Organic Law,” Lim said in a statement on Monday, Dec. 1.

Lim encouraged the Bangsamoro people to actively participate in the public consultations organized this month across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to “build a fair and representative parliamentary districting system.”

In late September, the Supreme Court declared the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 77, which reorganizes the parliamentary districts to reallocate seats for Sulu, as unconstitutional.

The court noted that the nullification of BAA 77 “does not revive” the BAA 58 or the law that includes Sulu in its parliamentary districts.

With the SC ruling, the BARMM parliamentary elections originally set for Oct. 13 did not happen.

The Commission on Elections has scheduled the parliamentary polls for March 30. The election period will begin on Jan. 29.