Manila: A Regional Parliamentary Political Party (RPPP) participating in the upcoming Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) must secure at least 2.5 percent of the total votes cast to earn a seat in the 80-member Bangsamoro Parliament, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

According to Philippines News Agency, the Comelec announced through a social media post that meeting the 2.5 percent vote threshold is crucial for RPPPs to qualify for the 40-seat allocation dedicated to Party Representation in the Bangsamoro Parliament. The poll body emphasized that only RPPPs achieving this threshold will be eligible to participate in the allocation of Party Representation Seats.

"RPPPs that garnered at least 2.5% of the total valid votes cast for all RPPPs are qualified to participate in the allocation of Party Representation Seats," the commission stated. It further clarified that any RPPP falling short with 2.49% or less will not qualify, and an RPPP must secure exactly or more than 2.5% of the total vote count to be eligible for seat allocation.

The seat allocation process involves a two-step formula. Initially, the total votes received by an RPPP are divided by the total number of votes gathered by all RPPPs meeting the 2.5-percent threshold. The quotient is then multiplied by 40, representing the total number of seats allocated for party representation. This calculation determines the number of seats assigned to an RPPP, following Comelec's prescribed rounding and seat-allocation rules.

In the event of unfilled seats, the remaining positions will be distributed one by one. "One seat will be allocated to each qualified RPPP, based on ranking from highest to lowest, until all remaining party representation seats have been distributed," Comelec added.

The Bangsamoro elections, scheduled for September 14, will fill a total of 80 parliamentary seats. Out of these, 40 will be filled by RPPP representatives, while the remaining 40 seats will be occupied by 32 elected Parliamentary District representatives and 8 Parliamentary Sectoral representatives.