Philippines’ Muslim-majority Bangsamoro region votes for first parliament

However, deadly violence marred the elections one day before the polls open in the southern Philippine region.

Army soldiers check the flow of vehicular traffic along the highway in Marantao town, Lanao del Sur province, southern Philippines, on September 13, 2026 [Froilan Gallardo/AP] (AP)

Nearly 2.4 million voters in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the southern Philippines are casting their ballots in the first parliamentary elections since the region was established in 2019.

Monday’s historic vote is seen as a crucial step towards self-governance after decades of insurgency and violence in the Muslim-majority region.

There are 80 seats up for grabs in the elections that will determine members of parliament, the region’s legislative body. These include 40 political party representatives, 32 district representatives and eight sectoral representatives.

The region’s chief minister, who heads the executive branch, will be elected by parliament in its first session.

Election officials said they were targeting a turnout of at least 80 percent after polling was postponed for several years.

However, deadly violence marred the elections one day before the polls opened.

The chairman of the Commission on Elections, George Garcia, reported on Monday that Cotabato City had been put under the commission’s control after a shooting late on Sunday killed three people and injured 15 others. In separate incidents in the city, he said a blast from an improvised bomb injured the person carrying the explosive, and a gun was fired but no one was hurt.

The town of Maluso in Basilan was also put under the commission’s control after pre-shaded ballots were found in 36 out of 68 precincts. Garcia said he ordered the immediate reprinting of ballots for the affected precincts where voting would be delayed.

Garcia vowed to charge those who attempt to sow violence or buy votes.

“These elections stand on generations of Bangsamoro struggle for homeland, identity, and self-determination, in the face of dispossession, marginalization, conflict and sacrifice,” he said in an earlier statement.

Polling stations are due to close at 7pm local time (11:00 GMT).

Abdullah Macapaar, centre, along with some of the fiercest Muslim rebel commanders in the southern Philippines, takes his oath during a ceremony for the creation of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) at the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines, on February 22, 2019 [Bullit Marquez/AP]

The election marks the end of the transition period under the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), an interim regional government appointed in 2019.

Established under a 2014 peace deal , the BARMM aims for broader autonomy, with former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels agreeing to demobilise and giving up their goal of a separate Muslim state in the south of the largely Catholic country.

Since the 1970s, about 150,000 people have died in the conflict. The area was once a haven for extremist groups but has seen a decline in violence.

然而，在菲律宾南部地区，投票开始前一天发生了致命的暴力事件，给选举蒙上了阴影。

2026年9月13日，菲律宾南部南拉瑙省马兰陶镇，陆军士兵在高速公路上检查车辆交通状况。[Froilan Gallardo/AP] (AP)

菲律宾南部邦萨摩罗穆斯林棉兰老自治区（BARMM）近 240 万选民正在参加自 2019 年该地区成立以来的首次议会选举。

周一的历史性投票被视为穆斯林占多数的该地区在经历了数十年的叛乱和暴力之后，迈向自治的关键一步。

此次选举将产生80个议席，这些议席将决定该地区立法机构——议会的成员。其中包括40名政党代表、32名区代表和8名行业代表。

该地区的首席部长是行政部门的首脑，将由议会在第一次会议上选举产生。

选举官员表示，在投票推迟数年后，他们的目标是投票率至少达到 80%。

然而，投票开始前一天发生的致命暴力事件给选举蒙上了阴影。

选举委员会主席乔治·加西亚周一报告称，哥打巴托市在周日晚间发生枪击事件后已被置于选举委员会的管辖之下。该枪击事件造成三人死亡，十五人受伤。加西亚表示，该市还发生了两起独立事件：一起是简易爆炸装置爆炸，携带爆炸物的人员受伤；另一起是枪击事件，但无人受伤。

在巴西兰省马卢索镇的68个选区中，有36个选区发现了预先涂黑的选票，该镇随后也被置于选举委员会的管辖之下。加西亚表示，他已下令立即重新印制受影响选区的选票，投票将因此推迟。

加西亚誓言要起诉那些企图煽动暴力或收买选票的人。

“这些选举建立在邦萨摩罗人民几代人为争取家园、身份和自决权而进行的斗争之上，他们面对着剥夺、边缘化、冲突和牺牲，”他在早前的一份声明中说。

投票站将于当地时间晚上 7 点（格林尼治标准时间 11:00）关闭。

2019 年 2 月 22 日，在菲律宾马尼拉总统府举行的邦萨摩罗过渡管理局 (BTA) 成立仪式上，阿卜杜拉·马卡帕尔（图中）与菲律宾南部一些最凶猛的穆斯林叛军指挥官一起宣誓就职。[布利特·马奎兹/美联社]

此次选举标志着邦萨摩罗过渡管理局（BTA）过渡期的结束，BTA是2019年任命的临时区域政府。

根据 2014 年的和平协议成立的 BARMM 旨在实现更大的自治权，前摩洛伊斯兰解放阵线 (MILF) 叛军同意解除武装，并放弃在以天主教徒为主的该国南部建立一个独立的穆斯林国家的目标。

自20世纪70年代以来，已有约15万人死于这场冲突。该地区曾是极端组织的避风港，但暴力事件已有所减少。