Petition asks SC to reconsider ruling declaring Sulu outside BARMM
Metro Manila, Philippines — A petition has asked the Supreme Court to reverse its ruling excluding Sulu from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Former human rights chair of then-ARMM Algamar Latiph, through his counsel Alberto Agra, filed the motion for reconsideration on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Latiph, a lawyer and peace advocate, asked the Supreme Court that a “new decision be issued declaring the province of Sulu part of the [BARMM], and holding the execution of the decision in abeyance until the conclusion of the 2025 National and Local Elections.”
In September, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law but declared Sulu is excluded from BARMM after the province rejected the law in a plebiscite.
As respondent-in-intervention, Latiph wrote that ARMM “votes, post-creation/incorporation as one, not in parts.” He said Sulu is an “integral and constitutive part of the ARMM geographic area.”
In a news release, Latiph said the votes from Sulu “should not be counted separately from the votes of [ARMM] since ARMM has already been incorporated as one geographical area in a plebiscite held in 1989.”
The ARMM provinces were Basilan (except Isabela City), Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-tawi.
Voters in the 2019 plebiscite ratified the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which created the BARMM in place of ARMM.
“The voters of ARMM vote as one, and not in parts, not per Province, as correctly implemented by the Commission on Elections in both the 2001 plebiscite to expand the ARMM and the 2019 plebiscite to ratify the BOL and further include other Local Government Units (LGUs) in the autonomous region,” Latiph said.
He said in his 17-page document that the no-vote of majority of Sulu voters “cannot be construed as a vote for exclusion from the ARMM/BARMM because it was not fairly and properly submitted to them.”
Latiph said he was not seeking the postponement of the BARMM parliament elections.
“While we seek the non-exclusion of the province of Sulu from BARMM, we submit that the May 2025 BARMM parliamentary elections should push through with Sulu voting therein as an integral and fundamental part thereof, until the Honorable Court resolves this motion,” he said.
“The potential instability and confusion that may arise from the immediate implementation of the decision, absent finality, will have profound implications not only for the province of Sulu and its constituents but also for the broader governance and peacebuilding efforts in the region,” the document read.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman earlier told the BARMM and Sulu to “maintain the status quo.” She also assured the public that the national government is exerting efforts for a smooth transition.
