Archive · 14 Sep 2026
Bangsamoro Holds First Parliamentary Election After Decades of Conflict
People in Bangsamoro are voting for their first regional parliament.
Bangsamoro is a mostly Muslim area in the southern Philippines.
The election is the result of a peace process that followed many years of fighting.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front agreed to seek greater self-rule instead of creating a separate country.
Nearly 2.4 million people can vote for 80 lawmakers.
Parliament will later choose the region’s chief minister.
The government sent more than 20,000 soldiers and police to help protect voters.
Violence killed at least three people and injured more than a dozen before voting began.
Officials also had to replace ballots in some areas because they had already been marked.
Nearly 2.4 million voters in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao are voting in the region’s first parliamentary elections.
The vote follows a peace process involving the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that began in the late 1990s.
At least three people were killed and more than a dozen injured in pre-election violence in Cotabato City, while other incidents included a blast and gunfire.
Voting in Cotabato City was placed under election-commission control, and voting was delayed in parts of Maluso after pre-shaded ballots were found.
Eighty parliamentary seats are at stake, with more than 20,000 soldiers and police deployed across the region.
- Who
- Nearly 2.4 million voters, Philippine election authorities, the Philippine government, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are central to the election.
- What
- The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is holding its first parliamentary election, with 80 seats contested.
- When
- The election was scheduled for September 14, 2026, following pre-election violence shortly before polling.
- Where
- The election is taking place in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Mindanao in the southern Philippines, including Cotabato City and Basilan.
- Why
- The vote is intended to advance self-rule under a peace agreement that ended the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s campaign for a separate Muslim state.
- Eligible voters
- Nearly 2.4 million
- Parliamentary seats
- 80
- Security deployment
- More than 20,000 soldiers and police
- Pre-election deaths
- At least three people killed in Cotabato City
- Pre-election injuries
- More than a dozen people injured
- Maluso ballot issue
- Pre-shaded ballots were found in 36 of 68 precincts
- Regional structure
- Five provinces, three cities and 63 villages