Former Comelec chief gets mixed feelings as he joins BARMM filing line for bets
MANILA, Philippines – Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sheriff Abas stood on the other side of the filing process on Wednesday, November 6, trading his role of accepting certificates of candidacy for one of submitting his own. The decision to run for Cotabato’s 1st district representative left him with mixed feelings, a sentiment that carried traces of his former duties.
“Medyo mixed feelings kase dati ako yung nagre-receive ng certificate of candidacy (COC), lalo na sa Manila. Medyo bibo ang COC filing natin sa Manila,” Abas told reporters.
(It’s a bit of mixed feelings because I used to be the one receiving certificates of candidacy, especially in Manila. The COC filing there was always lively.)
Abas is seeking to fill one of two allotted seats in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), specifically representing the 1st parliamentary district of Cotabato City, the regional center.
The former Comelec chairman filed his COC under the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is the dominant force in the interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).
Asked why he formalized his candidacy despite the congressional push to postpone the elections, Abas responded that the outcome was still uncertain.
“Fifty percent matuloy, 50% na hindi… meron din naman nag-ooppose at medyo gahol din sa oras
(There’s a 50% chance the elections will push through as scheduled, and 50% that it won’t… there are also those opposing it, and there’s a bit of a time constraint.)
On separate occasions on Monday and Tuesday, November 4 and 5, lawmakers introduced bills to move the 2025 BARMM parliamentary elections to 2026, following a Supreme Court (SC) ruling in September that excluded the province of Sulu from the BARMM.
Senate President Chiz Escudero filed Senate Bill 2862 on Monday, proposing to defer the elections to May 2026. The following day, Speaker Martin Romualdez and several other legislators filed a similar proposal under House Bill 11034.
Despite the proposals in the two houses of Congress, the Comelec has continued accepting COCs. The filing period for COCs in the BARMM started last Monday and would run until Saturday, November 9.
Abas said it was time for voters to be given the chance to choose new faces and names, instead of the traditional political figures.
Abas, who served as Comelec chairman from 2018 to 2022, is the first Mindanaoan and Muslim to head the commission. He said he plans to work for the creation of more job opportunities, improvements in the education system, and enhanced road infrastructure and planning in the BARMM. – Rappler.com