The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday outlined its preparations for the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) scheduled on 14 September.

During a stakeholders' walkthrough of Data Center 3 in Makati City, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body is studying the accreditation of media organizations from BARMM to strengthen local election coverage.

"We're looking into how to accredit media organizations in Bangsamoro because we want to give them priority for their elections," Garcia said.

He noted that the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas has traditionally served as Comelec's primary media partner during elections.

Data Center 3 houses servers assigned to dominant majority and minority political parties, accredited citizens' arms, and media organizations, allowing stakeholders to monitor the transmission of automated election results.

Garcia said the poll body is also determining which regional political parties in BARMM will be recognized as dominant majority and minority parties and be granted access to the servers.

During the 2025 midterm elections, Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats was designated as the dominant majority party, while the Nacionalista Party was named dominant minority. However, Garcia said neither party is participating in the BARMM parliamentary elections.

Comelec is targeting the transmission of automated election returns as early as 7 p.m. on election day.

To address possible technical issues, the poll body plans to deploy 10 contingency automated counting machines in every municipality across BARMM.

A total of 6,500 machines will be distributed to serve 5,212 precincts throughout the region.

Comelec is also continuing its assessment of schools that will be used as polling centers following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck off Maasim on 8 June.

"We continue to monitor conditions because there may be other developments. An earthquake is not the only thing that can affect places where elections will be conducted," Garcia said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education reported that around 3,500 schools in Regions XI and XII remain closed following the earthquake.

The agency said 5,590 affected schools have already resumed classes, although thousands remain unable to reopen because of safety concerns and damage to school facilities.

Comelec said the condition of potential polling centers remains a key consideration as preparations continue for the region's first parliamentary elections.