By Jun Aparece
COTABATO CITY – Groups representing the sectors mentioned in the Bangsamoro Electoral Code have petitioned the Bangsamoro Transition Authority to scrutinize and scrap some discriminatory provisions in the amendment bill to the electoral code.
Fifty-four organizations warned that the amendment bill, the BTA Bill 149 contained provisions that were “highly objectionable, illegal and unjust”.
Among the provisions were the proposal to decreased women composition in regional parties, from 30 percent as provided for in the BEC to only 20 percent in the amendment bill.
“The proposal to reduce the quota set for party nominees of regional political parties from 30% to 20% marks a retreat from the envisioned electoral reform, weakens representation and undermines the status of women,” they said.
They reminded the BARMM that it has been widely hailed “for enacting gender-responsive legislation, most notably the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, which mandates, among others, a 30 percent quota for women in the party nomination”.
“This is a hard-won victory by women’s organizations not only in the autonomous region but also at the national and international levels,” they added.
They said that reducing this to 20 percent “is a big blow” to the women sector necessitating the strongest indignation. “It effectively dilutes women’s representation before the existing safeguards have even been fully realized in practice.”
“Instead of moving forward, Bill 419 is a clear step backward, dripping with gender bias and relegating women back to the margins. For Moro women, in particular, a quota is not even the end goal. It is but a temporary measure to correct historical underrepresentation and systemic biases that for decades prevent women from participating, in governance and politics,” they added.
They said that another proposal was to revoke all previously issued certification of sectoral organizations, which they protested as leading to the impairment of vested rights and the constitutional guarantee to due process.
“Once sectoral organizations have complied with all substantive and procedural requirements under the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, its implementing rules, and the processes of the Bangsamoro Registration and Accreditation Committee and the COMELEC en banc, their accreditation ceases to be a mere privilege subject to whim,” they said, citing the certification that were already granted to them shortly before the first schedule of Parliamentary elections last year.
They said “it took these 187 sectoral organizations almost two years to undergo the process of certification with the certifying agencies in the BARMM and the subsequent accreditation process with BRAC and the Comelec en banc. These cannot be withdrawn arbitrarily by mere legislative fiat.”
They said another proposal was to elect the sectoral representatives directly in a synchronized voting alongside the Parliamentary elections.
They said that In the first Parliamentary election, the selection of the sectoral representatives for the reserved seats in the Parliament shall be on the basis of election during assemblies especially called for the purpose by registered and accredited sectoral organizations of women, settlers, youth, Ulama, traditional leaders and NMIP.
But in the amendment bill, it said that the election of sectoral representatives, except the NMIPs, Ulama, and traditional leaders “shall be synchronized with the first Parliamentary Elections and automated in accordance with the automated election system”.
“A plain reading of the proposed amendment under Bill 419 suggests that the election of the sectoral representatives for women, youth and settler communities will be conducted simultaneously, on the very same day of the parliamentary election. It also proposes that the manner of election will no longer be through assemblies but through automated election,” they said.
“By all indication, the proposed amendments under Bill 419 are red flags designed to provide another alibi or excuse to postpone the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Election,” they warned.
