OUTBREAKS of violence and ballot-tampering marked the historic first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), leaving at least three people dead, 15 injured, and prompting the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to assume direct control over two key areas.
Despite the disruptions, security officials and election monitors reported that the overall voting process across the region remained generally peaceful and on track, recording an initial 97.38 percent voting status in tracked areas.
Violence flared primarily in Cotabato City, where an argument among voters waiting in line outside an elementary school escalated into a fatal shooting that killed three people and wounded 15 others.
The city also experienced three separate explosive incidents, including the detonation of an improvised explosive device (IED) that injured the suspect carrying it.
The series of events led Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia to immediately place Cotabato City under Comelec control.
Concurrently, Comelec took control of Maluso, Basilan, after discovering that ballots in 36 of the municipality’s 68 precincts had been compromised with pre-shading prior to voting.
Chairman Garcia confirmed that the integrity of the remaining 32 precincts was intact, allowing voting there to proceed, while the affected ballots were rushed for reprinting.
The reprinted ballots are set to be airlifted to Basilan via military assets under the supervision of a newly appointed Comelec election administrator.
Basilan leaders, including Vice Governor Hadjiman “Jim” Hataman-Salliman, condemned the ballot pre-shading as a “desperate move” intended to undermine the region’s democratic transition and discredit legitimate political parties, including the Bangsamoro Federalist Party.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Col. Allen Rae Co stated that while the explosions were likely intended to derail the electoral process, security forces—working alongside the Armed Forces of the Philippines—are maintaining heightened ground monitoring to safeguard voters and election personnel.
Authorities emphasized that isolated incidents will not be allowed to impede the Bangsamoro people’s exercise of political self-governance.
