COTABATO CITY, Philippines—The Commission on Elections declared itself ready to conduct the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, citing completed preparations and a stable peace-and-order situation in the region.
The Bangsamoro parliamentary elections are scheduled for Monday, Sept. 14. A total of 2,393,202 registered voters are expected to cast their ballots at 5,212 clustered precincts in 1,186 voting centers across the region.
“Final testing and sealing of the automated counting machines were already done prior to election day, with the machines recording a 99.997% accuracy rate in the 2025 midterm elections,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia said.
The poll body has deployed 7,000 automated counting machines and other election materials for the polls.
Parliament seats
Voters will elect members of the 80-seat Bangsamoro Parliament. Forty seats will be allocated to regional parliamentary political parties, 32 to parliamentary district representatives and eight to sectoral representatives.
Each voter will choose one parliamentary district representative, one regional parliamentary political party and six parliamentary sectoral organizations representing settler communities, women, youth, ulama and traditional leaders.
The elected members of Parliament will choose the chief minister from among themselves.
Voting will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., followed by the transmission of election results. Senior citizens, pregnant women and people with disabilities may vote from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. under the early-voting arrangement.
Election contingencies
The Comelec said contingency measures were in place after at least 839 teachers withdrew from their assignments as members of electoral boards.
Garcia said the teachers cited various reasons for their withdrawal. He said they would not face penalties but expressed a preference for being informed earlier so election officials could make the necessary adjustments.
State security forces trained to serve on special electoral boards will fill the vacancies left by the teachers.
More than 9,000 police officers have been deployed to the region to secure voters, election workers and polling stations.
Security concerns
Garcia said the Comelec had classified 27 polling stations in the Bangsamoro region as areas of concern because of election-related incidents in previous polls.
He clarified that the classification was based on past incidents and did not necessarily indicate ongoing election-related violence.
The only reported incident linked to the current election was the ambush of Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua last month.
Despite security concerns, Garcia said the Comelec remains in control of the electoral process.
“Hindi po sila makikita sa kalsada because quick reaction lang po sila,” Garcia said.
(They will not be seen on the streets. They will be there in case of untoward incidents.)
Garcia said no human rights violations by state forces had been reported as of the eve of election day. He also said the Comelec would be responsible for the military’s actions. (davaotoday.com)
