MANILA — Fifteen Bangsamoro leaders have asked the Supreme Court to nullify certain provisions of the autonomous region's electoral code, citing alleged anomalies.

The petitioners, together with their lawyers Ace Bautista and Christopher Rodriguez, have petitioned the high court to issue a temporary restraining order preventing the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) from enforcing the Bangsamoro Electoral Code (BEC), which is expected to be imposed in the region's first regular polls in 2025.

In their 64-page petition, the leaders claimed that the BTA issued the BEC with "grave abuse of discretion."

They also alleged that the BEC was in "violation of the Constitution and existing national laws."

"The petitioners alleged that the BEC encroaches upon the power and
prerogative of the Supreme Court to promulgate rules and regulations concerning election cases filed with the lower courts," the leaders said in a statement Sunday.

"Thus, the BTA cannot and should not be considered to possess any power to prescribe rules and pleadings, and procedure for election cases before trial court," their statement also read.

The petitioners further alleged that some of the BEC's provisions "encroach" the Commission on Election's constitutional powers and duties.

"Articles VI and VII of the BEC are unconstitutional as they seek to govern
activities related to local and national elections, in violation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and the Constitution, when the BEC is supposed to govern only the election of members of the Bangsamoro Parliament," the petitioners claimed.

They also challenged the BEC provision facilitating the grant and use of public funds for election campaigns, saying that this was a violation of the Omnibus Election Code barring the said practice.

Also among the BEC's provisions being challenged by the petitioners were the 4-percent threshold for any political party representative to qualify for a seat in the region's parliament, as well as the code's definition and system for penalizing election offenses.

The BEC was signed into law on March 8, while it took effect on May 17.

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