DAVAO CITY (August 23) — As the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) prepares for its first parliamentary elections, election watchdogs are putting an added layer of scrutiny on the Sept. 14 polls to help ensure that votes are protected, properly counted and accurately transmitted.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said Thursday it will monitor and audit the 2026 BARMM elections, extending its watch from polling centers across the region to a command center in Metro Manila.
The move comes as election authorities and security agencies prepare for a landmark vote that will determine the members of the Bangsamoro Parliament and further shape the region’s transition to its new parliamentary form of government.
PPCRV spokesperson Ana Singson said the watchdog will open its command center at the AMA School of Medicine Annex Building in Makati City on Sept. 8, six days before election Day.
The group will deploy monitoring desks in polling centers across BARMM, while election results will be transmitted in real time to its Manila command center.
“Transmitted results will be received from the Comelec server granted to PPCRV. We will be transmitting results as they arrive on election day onwards. We will be transmitting from our command center,” Singson said in a Viber message to reporters.
But the PPCRV’s work will not stop at receiving electronically transmitted results.
Election returns from BARMM polling centers will be manually scanned at the Manila command center and compared with the results transmitted electronically.
“Election returns will be sent from all polling centers of BARMM to our Manila Command Center where they will be manually scanned then compared to the transmitted results for integrity check,” Singson said.
The comparison is designed to provide an independent check on whether the votes counted at polling places are accurately reflected in the electronically transmitted results.
For voters, the process provides an additional safeguard in an election where public trust will be critical.
Security and credibility
The 2026 BARMM elections come at a significant point in the region's political transition.
The parliamentary polls will determine the lawmakers who will form the Bangsamoro Parliament, making the integrity of the vote crucial to the legitimacy of the region’s evolving political institutions.
Election security is also a major concern in a region with a history of election-related violence, armed conflicts and political tensions. Ensuring that voters can cast their ballots safely—and that the results are accepted as credible—requires coordination among election officials, security forces, civil society groups and communities.
Against this backdrop, PPCRV’s monitoring provides a civilian layer of oversight that complements the work of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and security authorities.
The watchdog will also participate in the Random Manual Audit, a post-election process that checks the accuracy of vote-counting machines by comparing machine-generated results with manually counted ballots from selected polling places.
Watching the vote
Singson said the PPCRV will begin its unofficial parallel count on Sept. 17 or 18 and continue until Sept. 20.
The parallel count will provide another reference point for checking the official election Results.
For communities in BARMM, however, election integrity begins long before the final tally.
It means voters being able to reach polling places without fear, ballots being properly handled, votes being accurately counted, results being securely transmitted and discrepancies being detected and questioned.
The Sept. 14 elections will therefore be more than a contest among candidates. They will be
a test of whether the region can conduct a peaceful, credible and trusted parliamentary election as it continues its political transition.
For voters, the message is straightforward: every ballot must be protected, every vote must be counted, and every result must be verifiable.
