Despite violence, BARMM holds polls

In the end, what mattered was that the voters in the Bangsamoro region were able to cast their ballots for their representatives to the autonomous parliament, marking a major milestone in the peace process in the once-volatile region.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared the historic parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) peaceful, despite pockets of violence and extended voting in some areas.

The election was to fill the 80 seats of the Bangsamoro Parliament — composed of 40 regional parliamentary party representatives, 32 parliamentary district representatives, and eight sectoral representatives.

The Philippine National Police listed seven incidents, including three confrontations that led to shootings, three explosions, and the retrieval of an improvised explosive device (IED), with at least three fatalities and 15 injured.

In a press briefing at Camp Crame, PNP information chief and spokesperson Col. Allen Rae Co said that, based on ground reports, gunfights were recorded in Basilan, Cotabato, and Maguindanao del Norte.

Three explosions were logged in Cotabato and an IED was recovered in Basilan.

The Comelec defied fears of rising violence after nightfall by extending the voting by two hours in the first-ever extension in the municipality of Al-Barka in Basilan, due to an incident involving the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and other partisan groups.

Comelec Chair George Garcia said the poll body approved extending voting in the town up to 9 p.m. from the original 7 p.m. deadline.

“The reason for this is that tensions arose involving certain groups of MILF fighters and commanders, as well as other partisan groups. Consequently, our teachers were unable to immediately enter the area and secure the necessary materials, particularly the ballots,” Garcia said in a press conference.

Meanwhile, Garcia reported that the reprinted ballots for the municipality of Maluso, also in Basilan, were on their way to the town after being printed at the National Printing Office in Quezon City.

It was reported that a total of 16,563 official ballots in 36 polling precincts were pre-shaded, prompting the Comelec to reprint them.

Generally peaceful

Garcia said Monday’s polls were generally peaceful, although there were reported incidents of explosions and shootings that killed four people in Cotabato City.

“At present, we can say that our elections were generally peaceful. However, unfortunate incidents did occur — especially here in Cotabato City. This saddens us. We condemn such incidents, particularly those that resulted in the deaths of our fellow citizens,” the poll body chief said.

Earlier, the Commission placed Cotabato City and Maluso under its control amid the incidents.

Good voter turnout

Garcia believed that an 80-percent voter turnout was achieved.

“I believe that we can achieve the very high voter turnout I mentioned. Despite the scorching heat, long lines of our fellow citizens remain. Even in areas where disturbances occurred, the lines of those wishing to vote remained long,” he said.

“I believe the people of Bangsamoro have shown that they are not afraid — whether there is gunfire, unrest, or even fistfights. It doesn’t really matter; they will vote. We are grateful to them for the trust they have placed in the Comelec,” Garcia added.

The BARMM has 2,393,202 registered voters.

Comelec control for 2 regions

The Comelec decided to place Cotabato City and Maluso in Basilan under its control following incidents of violence in Cotabato City and the discovery of pre-shaded ballots in Maluso.

Despite this, Garcia assured that no election failure has been declared in any area of the (BARMM).

“We are sure there is no failure of elections,” the chairman declared.

Garcia explained, “We did not have any loss or destruction of election paraphernalia. Some may have been compromised, but there was still no loss or destruction. The violence is not to the extent that it prevented voters from casting their ballots.”

Garcia said the pre-shaded ballots were discovered on Sunday night.

“We determined, as of last night, that 36 out of the 68 precincts had compromised ballots. We found that the ballots have been pre-shaded. As to who did the pre-shading, we already know as well as the details,” he said.

To those who were involved in the pre-shading of the ballots, he warned, “We will not forgive you, regardless of your position.”

Based on documentation and the chain of custody, the chairman noted that the ballots were kept in the local government’s treasurer’s office before being distributed to the polling precincts.

“What is important is the ballots will be reprinted, and the voters will be able to vote in the 36 precincts,” Garcia said.

The Comelec chief assured the reprinted ballots would be flown in and distributed within the day.