Reconfiguration of BARMM districts completedCOTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Bangsamoro parliament approved before dawn Tuesday, January 13, a bill reconfiguring the 32 parliamentary districts in the autonomous region, a requisite its first-ever elections since its creation in 2019. It also established three parliamentary districts in Cotabato City and two in the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area (SGA) in Cotabato province in Region 12. “This bill was crafted to directly address the legal issues raised by the Supreme Court pertaining to the setting up of the parliamentary districts in the Bangsamoro region,” Sinarimbo said. All 80 members of the BARMM parliament are functioning as presidential appointees, without electoral mandate, since the region’s creation in 2019. BARMM, a product of 22 years of peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, replaced in 2019 the then 27-year less empowered Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Source: Philippine Star January 13, 2026 12:37 UTC