Marcos vows safe, peaceful, credible BARMM polls on Sept. 14
MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos on Tuesday vowed to ensure safe, peaceful, and credible first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on September 14.
He committed during the opening ceremony of the 2026 National Peace Consciousness Month at the Ceremonial Hall of Malacañan Palace.
The month-long observance commemorates the 30th Anniversary of the signing of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front, the 40th Anniversary of the 1986 Mount Data Peace Accord, and the signing of the Agreement on the Fulfillment of the Mount Data Peace Accord with the Cordillera Bodong Administration-Cordillera People’s Liberation Army.
READ: Marcos vows first BARMM elections will push through in September
“We are prepared for the first Parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on September 14. Despite several postponements, the government never lost hope and remains fully committed to supporting this democratic exercise,” Marcos said in his speech.
“Be assured that this Administration will do everything within our mandate to ensure that the elections are safe, peaceful, and credible. We will protect the right of every Bangsamoro voter to cast a ballot freely and without fear,” he continued.
He urged voters to show that the future of the region is shaped by their voices, choices, and hopes for their respective communities.
In March, Marcos signed into law a measure resetting the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to Sept. 14, 2026, after the Supreme Court struck down the region’s redistricting laws, making the original October 2025 schedule legally impossible.
The first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for May 2022, were postponed several times, most recently after the Supreme Court struck down two Bangsamoro districting laws as unconstitutional.
Under the Bangsamoro Organic Law, voters will elect 40 party representatives, 32 district representatives, and eight sectoral representatives.
The term of office for officials elected in the BARMM parliamentary elections will begin at noon on Oct. 30, 2026, and end on June 30, 2031. Starting in 2031, elected officials will assume office at noon on June 30 following their election. /cb
