SC asked: Declare BARMM budget unconstitutional

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March 22, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — A petition seeking to declare the 2026 budget of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) unconstitutional has been filed before the Supreme Court (SC).

Petitioners Abdulsukor Mustapah and Bohari Lampatan Te said the budget enacted by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) violated the Constitution and the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

Mustapah and Lampatan on Friday filed before the SC a petition for certiorari against the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 85, asking for an issuance of a temporary restraining order.

The petitioners argued that the BAA 85 did not follow the 1987 Constitution and the BOL, which mandate that education must be given the highest priority in crafting the budget.

Of the P114-billion budget approved by the BTA under BAA 85, only P26 billion was allotted to education, according to Tokz Bin Abdu Rahman, spokesman for the Save Bangsamoro Movement.

Rahman said the amount is P6 billion lower than the original proposed budget of P32 billion.

The group said that allocations for the Bangsamoro ministries of social services, environment and agriculture were also reduced.

Rahman challenged the P11 billion in contingency fund of the Office of the Bangsamoro Chief Minister, which he said is higher than the previous budget of P600 million, and only slightly lower than the P13 billion allotted for the Office of the President for the same purpose.

He said the Office of the Chief Minister was allotted P47 billion or 41 percent of the BARMM’s P114-billion budget.

Rahman claimed that the P17.5 billion allotted for BARMM’s infrastructure and modernization “did not have any plan or cost estimate and is under the control of the Office of the Chief Minister.”