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2019 Bangsamoro autonomy plebiscite
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2019 Bangsamoro autonomy plebiscite
The 2019 Bangsamoro autonomy plebiscite was a two-part plebiscite held in Mindanao, Philippines, that ratified the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as well as the scope of the said region.
Under the organic law, the government would have to hold the plebiscite not more than 150 days from the signing of the BOL into law (July 26, 2018) but not earlier than 90 days from the law's signing. The first part of the plebiscite was held on January 21, 2019, where voters from the ARMM voted regarding the BOL's ratification and residents of Cotabato City and Isabela City voted for or against their cities' inclusion into the then-proposed region. The second part was held on February 6 to potentially expand the BARMM; with voters from six municipalities in Lanao del Norte and 67 barangays in Cotabato province voting for or against their localities' inclusion into the BARMM.
On January 25, 2019, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) announced that the BOL was "deemed ratified" after results in the first part of the plebiscite showed majority support for the law's ratification. The election body also officially announced that majority of voters in Cotabato City voted in favor of joining the then-proposed autonomous region while voters of Isabela City rejected their inclusion. During the February 6 referendum, however, 63 of the 67 Cotabato barangays, and 9 of 22 towns in Lanao del Norte saw voters in favor of joining the then-proposed region. Despite the fact that the six municipalities in Lanao del Norte which petitioned to join were among the 9 voting in favor of inclusion, a majority of support was required not only from voters in the individual municipality, but also from voters throughout the rest of the province as well. As a result, no municipality in Lanao del Norte joined the autonomous region. All of the barangays in Cotabato province which saw voters vote in favor of joining, however, joined the region as well.
On September 9, 2024, the Supreme Court of the Philippines upheld the validity of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, but declared unconstitutional the provision that considered the provinces of the former ARMM to be one unit for purposes of determining ratification. Because majority of the voters of the province of Sulu rejected the ratification of the law in the plebiscite, it was declared to be not part of the BARMM.
Voters in localities referred to as the core territory of the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region were eligible to participate in the plebiscite. The core territory covers:
Voters in the whole provinces of Lanao del Norte and Cotabato also had to vote if they consented to a locality's secession from the regions of their parent provinces (Northern Mindanao and Soccsksargen, respectively) to join the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
Additionally, adjacent local government units bordering the localities above could opt for inclusion in the plebiscite through their local governments or a petition by its registered voters. The Comelec released guidelines regarding this concern on October 22, 2018 and gave local government units seeking this course of action until October 31, 2018 to comply. Voters or the local government of the petitioning locality had to pay a ₱10,000 filing fee and a ₱100 research fee as imposed by the election body.
A total of 62 localities was initially announced to have made bids to participate in the plebiscite, although not all of them were contiguous to the defined Bangsamoro core territory. Fifty-six of these petitions were initiated by local governments while six were made by registered voters of the petitioning localities. The Comelec planned to decide on all of these petitions initially by mid-November 2018 but later moved their target to December 15, 2018. Due to the large number of petitions, the Comelec decided on December 7, 2018 to schedule the planned plebiscite on two separate dates (January 21 and February 6, 2019) stating that they could not process all petitions by December 15 with localities with successful petitions taking part in the February vote.
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2019 Bangsamoro autonomy plebiscite
The 2019 Bangsamoro autonomy plebiscite was a two-part plebiscite held in Mindanao, Philippines, that ratified the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as well as the scope of the said region.
Under the organic law, the government would have to hold the plebiscite not more than 150 days from the signing of the BOL into law (July 26, 2018) but not earlier than 90 days from the law's signing. The first part of the plebiscite was held on January 21, 2019, where voters from the ARMM voted regarding the BOL's ratification and residents of Cotabato City and Isabela City voted for or against their cities' inclusion into the then-proposed region. The second part was held on February 6 to potentially expand the BARMM; with voters from six municipalities in Lanao del Norte and 67 barangays in Cotabato province voting for or against their localities' inclusion into the BARMM.
On January 25, 2019, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) announced that the BOL was "deemed ratified" after results in the first part of the plebiscite showed majority support for the law's ratification. The election body also officially announced that majority of voters in Cotabato City voted in favor of joining the then-proposed autonomous region while voters of Isabela City rejected their inclusion. During the February 6 referendum, however, 63 of the 67 Cotabato barangays, and 9 of 22 towns in Lanao del Norte saw voters in favor of joining the then-proposed region. Despite the fact that the six municipalities in Lanao del Norte which petitioned to join were among the 9 voting in favor of inclusion, a majority of support was required not only from voters in the individual municipality, but also from voters throughout the rest of the province as well. As a result, no municipality in Lanao del Norte joined the autonomous region. All of the barangays in Cotabato province which saw voters vote in favor of joining, however, joined the region as well.
On September 9, 2024, the Supreme Court of the Philippines upheld the validity of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, but declared unconstitutional the provision that considered the provinces of the former ARMM to be one unit for purposes of determining ratification. Because majority of the voters of the province of Sulu rejected the ratification of the law in the plebiscite, it was declared to be not part of the BARMM.
Voters in localities referred to as the core territory of the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region were eligible to participate in the plebiscite. The core territory covers:
Voters in the whole provinces of Lanao del Norte and Cotabato also had to vote if they consented to a locality's secession from the regions of their parent provinces (Northern Mindanao and Soccsksargen, respectively) to join the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
Additionally, adjacent local government units bordering the localities above could opt for inclusion in the plebiscite through their local governments or a petition by its registered voters. The Comelec released guidelines regarding this concern on October 22, 2018 and gave local government units seeking this course of action until October 31, 2018 to comply. Voters or the local government of the petitioning locality had to pay a ₱10,000 filing fee and a ₱100 research fee as imposed by the election body.
A total of 62 localities was initially announced to have made bids to participate in the plebiscite, although not all of them were contiguous to the defined Bangsamoro core territory. Fifty-six of these petitions were initiated by local governments while six were made by registered voters of the petitioning localities. The Comelec planned to decide on all of these petitions initially by mid-November 2018 but later moved their target to December 15, 2018. Due to the large number of petitions, the Comelec decided on December 7, 2018 to schedule the planned plebiscite on two separate dates (January 21 and February 6, 2019) stating that they could not process all petitions by December 15 with localities with successful petitions taking part in the February vote.
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