01/11/2026
𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑 | 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
Weeks ago, as the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections drew near, I spoke of hope for what they represent for the Bangsamoro people. Today, as the first elected Members of the Bangsamoro Parliament assume office, I wish to return to that hope and to the part the Commission has been privileged to play in it.
The autonomy this Parliament embodies did not begin with the elections of 14 September, nor even with the Bangsamoro Organic Law. It rests on generations of struggle for homeland, identity and self-determination, carried through dispossession, conflict and sacrifice, and it found its political path through the peace process, from the Tripoli Agreement of 1976 to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro. That path was made possible by the 1987 Constitution, which provides for autonomy in Muslim Mindanao within the framework of the Constitution and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic, while recognizing the distinctive historical and cultural heritage and ways of life of the peoples who call the region home. The Organic Law, ratified in the plebiscites of 2019 overseen by this Commission, gave that promise its fullest form to date. What opens today is the Parliament that the Constitution, the peace agreements and the Organic Law each foresaw.
I extend the Commission's sincere congratulations to the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, whose work now draws to a close. They undertook the painstaking task of building a government while writing the codes and laws an elected Parliament would one day inherit, among them the Bangsamoro Electoral Code and the districting measures under which these elections were held. They carried this work through a pandemic, through litigation, and through the very elections that would end their own mandate, and until the last day they fulfilled their duty and handed over the government with grace. The Commission is grateful for the openness with which they engaged us.
To the people of the Bangsamoro, the Commission extends its deepest gratitude. In record-breaking turnout, you chose a Parliament in which no single party commands a majority, calling upon your representatives to govern by consensus and coalition, as the parliamentary system intended. My appreciation extends to all who made these elections possible: our election officers, the teachers who served on our electoral boards, and our volunteers; the media; civil society and the citizens' arms; domestic and international observers; our security forces; the Bangsamoro Government; and the political parties and candidates who engaged the Commission constructively and accepted the results with respect and calm, recognizing that the outcome is bigger than any individual ambition.
These were elections unlike any the Commission had conducted before, under a system without precedent in our practice and in a region that had waited long for them. I have always held that the trust placed in the Commission is borrowed from the people and must be earned again with each election. The confidence the Bangsamoro people for the first-ever parliamentary elections will carry us through 2031 and beyond.
The Commission's part in this chapter ends with the proclamations. The Parliament's now begins. It is my hope, and I believe the hope of all who worked toward this day, that the Members now taking their seats will prove worthy of the mandate placed in their hands, and that the institutions borne of struggle and negotiation will, in their keeping, deliver the peace and progress the Bangsamoro people have long awaited.
𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙖'𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙝, 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.
𝙒𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙠𝙪𝙢 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙝𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙠𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙝!
