COTABATO CITY (July 17) — Security measures tightened across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Thursday as a region-wide gun ban took effect, signaling the official start of the 90-day election period for the region’s first-ever regular parliamentary elections.
More than 2.3 million registered voters are expected to elect 80 members of the Bangsamoro Parliament on Sept. 14, a milestone in the implementation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law and the region’s transition to a fully functioning parliamentary government.
To help secure the polls, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia announced that checkpoints will be established across all 105 municipalities and three component cities in BARMM to strictly enforce the firearms ban.
“Checkpoints will be set up in all 105 municipalities and three cities to implement the gun ban,” Garcia said.
The gun ban is among several election security measures under Comelec Resolution No. 11214, which sets the election period from July 16 to Sept. 29. The official campaign period will run from July 30 to Sept. 12.
The resolution also prohibits the carrying of firearms and other deadly weapons without authorization from the poll body and places tighter controls on the use of security personnel during the election season.
In addition, the Comelec said the transfer or reassignment of government employees and the preventive suspension of local government officials during the election period will require prior approval from the Commission to prevent the misuse of government authority and resources.
The Sept. 14 vote is considered a landmark exercise in Bangsamoro self-governance, as it will determine the composition of the region’s first regular parliament, replacing the interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority and marking another key step in the implementation of the peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Authorities have appealed for public cooperation with election regulations, stressing that strict enforcement of the gun ban and other safeguards is crucial to ensuring peaceful, orderly, and credible elections across the Bangsamoro region.
