Violence, fraud mar BARMM elections on a ‘lesser scale’

COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — At least four people died, and 20 others were injured in shooting and other violent incidents as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) finally held its first parliamentary elections on Monday.

While the combined 20,000-strong military and police deployment significantly reduced tensions and made the polls more peaceful than previous ones, several cases of violent incidents, mostly in Cotabato City, still marred the historic event.

At 11:45 p.m. on Sunday, hours before poll centers opened at 5 a.m., three people were killed, and 15 others were wounded in a shooting in front of Datu Usman Mampen Elementary School in Barangay Bagua 2 here.

READ: PNP logs 7 cases of violence amid BARMM polls

Cotabato police chief Jibin Bongcayao said in a wire report that the shooting happened as members of rival political factions jostled for the right to cast their votes first.

“It started as a struggle for position in the queue between two groups,” Bongcayao said. “It led to shoving, escalated into a fistfight, and eventually, gunfire broke out in a crowded area.”

Another shooting occurred nearly two hours after voting started Monday inside Cotabato City Central Pilot Elementary School along Sinsuat Avenue in Poblacion 6. Four people were hurt, and one of them later died. Among those injured was Patrolman Justeen Reo Ga, assigned to the Dinagat Islands provincial police office.

At around noon, tension erupted at Sero Central Elementary School in this city, as government forces confronted unidentified men wielding sticks and steel rods who had destroyed two luxury vehicles outside the school, which was being used as a voting center.

Later in the afternoon, a powerful explosive went off in another school in this city’s downtown area, wounding one person.

Col. Allen Rae Co, Philippine National Police public information chief, told reporters at Camp Crame in Quezon City that the injured individual was the one carrying the improvised explosive device.

“He’s being treated at the hospital as of now. He’s stable. We’re waiting to be able to question him,” Co added.

‘Deeply alarming’

Bangsamoro interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua condemned the series of violent incidents, describing them as “deeply alarming.”

The incidents prompted the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to place Cotabato City under its direct control.

Despite this, Co said the BARMM elections have been “generally peaceful” so far.

“In the majority of areas in BARMM, the electoral process has been peaceful. It just so happened that there are incidents like these. We are calibrating our response,” he said.

Alleged cases of election fraud were also recorded in some areas in the region. Maluso town in Basilan was also placed under Comelec control after it was discovered that the ballots for 36 out of 68 precincts had been preshaded.

Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia said that voting had been halted in the affected precincts with 16,563 voters, adding that the culprit behind the shaded ballots was already identified.

New ballots arriving

He told reporters that voting may be extended up to Tuesday as they wait for freshly printed ballots to arrive in Zamboanga from the National Printing Office in Quezon City. From there, the new ballots will be flown to Basilan in a helicopter.

Voters in Lantawan town, meanwhile, complained to Basilan Gov. Mujiv Hataman that they were not able to vote as the precincts where they were listed ran out of ballots. Hataman shared on social media that over 300 voters were disenfranchised as a result.

In Marantao, Lanao del Sur, Mindanao State University professor Tirmizy Abdullah also reported alleged electoral irregularities experienced by his own family.

“Although I was able to cast my vote, I cannot help but feel deeply frustrated and concerned because some of my close relatives were not able to exercise their right to vote,” Abdullah told the Inquirer.

When his relatives arrived at their precincts, they were barred from voting because their names on the master list had already been signed by someone else, he added.

At a press briefing in Makati City, Ana Singson, the spokesperson for election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), said one of their volunteers at Central Oring Elementary School in Buldon, Maguindanao del Norte, flagged several voters for voting multiple times.

“They are voting on behalf of people who cannot vote or were unable to show up at the precinct,” Singson told reporters, adding:

“They are also handing out sample ballots to support their candidates.”

Another PPCRV volunteer, according to Singson, said the wife of a mayor reportedly ordered some people at Barurao Central Elementary School in Maguindanao del Sur to use the names of those who had yet to vote.

“They said people [identified with] the mayor’s wife came in and took the voters list. They said that all those who have not voted yet, their names are being taken so they can vote for their candidate,” she added.

Singson did not identify the mayor to protect their volunteers.

Voting disruptions also happened in parts of the Special Geographic Area (SGA).

At Nabundas Elementary School in Barangay Nabundas of Malidagao town, SGA, an Inquirer correspondent at the site heard a blast believed to be from a grenade around 11:25 a.m.

Almost at the same time, a clash between police and an armed group erupted in Shariff Saydona Mustapha, halting polling at the same school.

Gino Ballesteros, Shariff Saydona Mustapha Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office head, said sporadic gunshots could still be heard as of 3 p.m.

Voting in Lanao del Sur was generally peaceful, Rep. Ziaur-Rahman “Zia” Adiong said, adding that he was pleased with the turnout.

“This will be the foundation of the regular BARMM government, which will enable it to exercise its true autonomy,” he said.

The Bangsamoro region’s historic parliamentary voting completes the political track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the peace deal signed by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations.

MILF Chair Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim was hopeful the winners would truly serve the Bangsamoro.

There are 80 seats at stake in the elections that will determine members of parliament. The region comprises five provinces, three cities and 63 villages with nearly 2.4 million voters. Election officials said they expected an 80-percent turnout after polling was postponed for several years.

The region’s chief minister, who heads the executive branch, will be elected by parliament in its first session. —Reports from Edwin Fernandez, Drema Quitayen Bravo, Taher Solaiman, Cong Corrales, Divina Suson, Leah Agonoy, Richel Umel, Amiel Cagayan, Dianne Sampang, Jason Sigales, Mary Joy Salcedo, Luisa Cabato, and Agence France-Presse /atm