COTABATO CITY — Almost two million registered voters in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are expected to cast their votes for the May 13 polls.
The latest Commission on Elections (Comelec) data shows, BARMM has 1,980,441 registered voters as of the last plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in January in five provinces, three cities, 116 municipalities, and 2,590 barangays.
The Comelec said voters in the region are to choose 12 senators and eight members of the House of Representatives in Monday’s mid-term elections.
The voters will also choose five governors and five vice governors for Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi and city mayors and vice mayors for Cotabato, Marawi and Lamitan.
The BARMM residents will also elect 50 members of the provincial board, 116 municipal mayors, 116 municipal vice mayors and 1,160 members of the municipal councils.
In Maguindanao, 13 mayoral aspirants are sure winners for running unopposed.
These mayoral aspirants are unopposed in the towns of Ampatuan, Buluan, Datu Anggal, Datu Blah Sinsuat, Datu Odin, Datu Paglas, Guindulungan, Kabuntalan Mother, Mangudadatu, Pandag, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura, and Paglat.
The vice mayoral aspirants in these towns are also unopposed.
Police and military authorities in partnership with the Comelec have devised measures that will ensure orderly and peaceful elections in the traditionally troubled region during political exercises. -Edwin O. Fernandez
