With 94 towns and municipalities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) classified as election areas of concern, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has begun deploying thousands of officers across the region ahead of the Bangsamoro Parliament elections scheduled for Oct. 13.
PNP chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III announced that 10,000 uniformed personnel have already been deployed to help ensure the peaceful conduct of the first-ever Parliament elections.
“Based on the Comelec (Commission on Elections) resolution, we will be implementing a gun ban from August 14 to October 28,” said Torre in a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City on Monday, Aug. 18.
Torre said the gun ban is part of the security measures as the latest assessment revealed that 29 areas in BARMM are under red category, or the possibility of election-related violence is high.
Two more towns, Buluan in Maguindanao del Sur and Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao del Norte, were already placed under Comelec control.
BARMM is consistently in the PNP’s watchlist every election due to a history of gun-related violence.
In the past elections, most of the private armed groups are based and are operating in BARMM.
For the May 12 midterm elections, the Climate Conflict Action Asia (CCAA) said it monitored a total of 219 deaths in BARMM alone since the start of the filing of the certificate of candidacy in October 2024.
Torre said they are exerting all the efforts to prevent poll-related violence.
“All the security measures we are implementing are part of the preparation to ensure a safe, peaceful and credible elections in the region,” said Torre. (Aaron Recuenco)
