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.
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 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.