The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) opened a historic new chapter on Monday, September 14, as voters took part in the region’s first regular parliamentary elections—but the milestone was overshadowed by deadly violence, alleged ballot tampering and reports of voter intimidation.
The election is the culmination of years of peace negotiations and political transition following the 2014 peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). About 2.4 million registered voters were eligible to choose members of the region’s first elected parliament.
The voting involved 80 parliamentary seats across 32 districts, with the newly elected lawmakers expected to assume office on October 30 and choose BARMM’s chief minister.
But instead of an entirely peaceful transition, several areas were hit by serious security and electoral problems.
Deadly violence erupts before voting
Cotabato City became the most prominent flashpoint.
Reports from Philippine and international outlets said shootings and explosions occurred around the city before and during election day. The joint election assessment mission of the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) and National Democratic Institute (NDI) said three people had been killed and more than a dozen wounded in incidents from the eve of the election through midday on September 14.
The Manila Times, however, reported a higher toll of four people killed and 14 wounded, illustrating how casualty figures were still developing as authorities investigated the incidents.
Authorities subsequently placed Cotabato City under Commission on Elections (Comelec) control following the violence.
The municipality of Maluso in Basilan was also placed under Comelec control after authorities discovered allegedly pre-shaded ballots in 36 of its 68 precincts. Comelec ordered replacement ballots and an investigation into the alleged irregularities.
Pre-shaded ballots trigger alarm
The discovery in Maluso raised one of the most serious questions surrounding the first BARMM parliamentary elections: whether some ballots had been prepared before voters arrived at the polls.
The alleged pre-shading was serious enough for Comelec to take direct control of the municipality’s election administration.
The incident was also consistent with concerns raised by election watchdogs about the integrity and secrecy of voting procedures.
The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) reported that 137 of 492 monitoring reports, or about 28 percent, indicated that voters did not personally feed their ballots into automated counting machines. In 119 of those cases, Electoral Board members reportedly performed the task.
LENTE also recorded voter assistance in 187 of 501 monitoring reports, while 41 reports indicated that non-Electoral Board assistants exceeded the three-voter limit.
The watchdog additionally reported allegations involving vote-buying, political pressure and armed individuals inside or around voting centers.
Intimidation and alleged vote-buying reported
According to LENTE, vote-buying or vote-selling appeared in 19 monitoring reports.
One monitoring report from Maguindanao del Norte allegedly involved individuals pressuring voters to support a particular party and handing out money after they voted. LENTE also documented seven instances in which monitors saw armed individuals at voting centers.
These reports remain allegations and do not, by themselves, establish that particular candidates or political organizations were responsible.
In another reported incident in Maguindanao del Sur, an election monitor was forced to stop observing after being warned not to approach a polling area and witnessing an individual draw a firearm.
Other areas also disrupted
Problems were not confined to Cotabato City and Maluso.
In Al-Barka, Basilan, voting was delayed after armed men reportedly prevented teachers serving as election inspectors from reaching their assigned polling stations. A confrontation involving rival factions was eventually brought under control, allowing voting to proceed.
Authorities also recovered an improvised explosive device in Lamitan City, Basilan, before voting began. The device was safely detonated by authorities.
Despite these incidents, the Philippine National Police maintained that voting remained generally peaceful and under control across most of BARMM.
BusinessMirror reported that the PNP was investigating seven suspected election-related incidents involving shootings and explosions, while monitoring indicated that voting had begun in the overwhelming majority of tracked areas.
Not all of BARMM experienced disorder
The election picture was not uniformly negative.
In Lanao del Sur, Comelec officials reported a peaceful and orderly election with no untoward incidents recorded as of the afternoon of September 14. The provincial election supervisor described the voting process as among the most peaceful in the province’s history.
That contrast is important: while serious violence and irregularities affected several locations, millions of voters across BARMM were still able to participate.
International observers also emphasized that the election remained an important democratic milestone despite the security problems.
ANFREL and NDI said the situation was volatile but noted the determination of Bangsamoro voters to exercise their democratic rights. They called on political actors and security authorities to prevent further violence and protect voters and election personnel.
Why the election matters
The first BARMM parliamentary election is more than a regional vote.
It represents the next major stage of the peace process that transformed the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao into the BARMM following the Bangsamoro Organic Law and the 2019 plebiscite.
The new parliament is intended to replace the appointed transitional system with an elected regional government, giving voters a direct role in choosing lawmakers who will shape BARMM’s political direction.
For the region, the stakes are particularly high. BARMM is home to roughly 4.5 million people, and the election is widely viewed as a test of whether the peace process can translate into stable democratic institutions and long-term self-government.
The bigger question now
The immediate challenge is no longer simply getting voters to the polls.
It is determining whether allegations of ballot tampering, intimidation, vote-buying and other irregularities will affect the credibility of the results—and whether the violence seen in several areas will undermine confidence in BARMM’s historic transition.
Comelec officials have continued the canvassing process, with proclamations expected as results are transmitted and consolidated.
For a region whose political future has been shaped by decades of armed conflict, the first parliamentary election was supposed to demonstrate that political competition could replace violence.
Instead, the first vote has delivered a complicated message: the democratic transition is underway, but the struggle to make it fully peaceful and credible is far from over.
Leave a Reply