Philippines | A “milestone” despite small incidents

Women arrive to cast their votes in the first general election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the Philippines. Photo: IMAGO/Anadolu Agency Given the many new trouble spots, it is difficult for a regional ballot in the south of the Philippines to make international headlines. In the country itself, however, the historical significance of that September 14, 2026 could hardly be underestimated. After decades of violence and numerous setbacks in the peace process, around two million people cast their votes largely safely and peacefully.

It was about the first election of a regional parliament for a structure with the abbreviation BARMM. Behind it is the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. It includes four provinces on the second main island of Mindanao and other small islands in the south of the archipelago. In this area, which extends to the borders of Malaysia, Islam still dominates culturally today. Unlike in the rest of the Philippines, Spanish colonial rule was never able to fully establish itself there. It was only under the Americans from 1898 that the South was finally subjugated.

However, the region remained a latent source of unrest even after independence in 1946. For the political elite in distant Manila, these areas on the southern periphery and their residents were always a little foreign. Many Muslims, on the other hand, felt disadvantaged in the Catholic-dominated island state. Resistance to heteronomy has characterized the “Moros” for centuries.

"I am convinced that this will pave the way for lasting peace and economic development in Mindanao."

In the 1970s, this spirit flared up powerfully again. First, in 1972, the Moros National Liberation Front (MNLF), led by Nur Misuari, took up the fight for an independent state called Bangsamoro in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. The background was also that since the 1950s the central government had increasingly promoted the settlement of Christian settlers in the south, which gradually made the Moros a minority in their own home area. It is estimated that the conflict claimed 120,000 lives.

After the more moderate MNLF agreed to a peace agreement in 1996, the breakaway Islamic Liberation Front of the Moros (MILF) continued to take up arms. After the turn of the millennium, radical Islamic groups such as the Abu Sayyaf also made headlines with spectacular kidnappings, including the German Wallert family, and attacks. Initially part of the Al-Qaeda network, these groups later joined the Islamic State (IS). One of the largest actions in 2017 was the capture of Marawi by the IS-allied terrorist groups for several months. They occupied the city for four months; the fighting with the army resulted in around 1,200 deaths and hundreds of thousands of refugees.

The MILF was also finally ready to conclude a peace agreement under conservative President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her liberal successor Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino; the autonomous area was expanded from 2014. The current election primarily pitted parties with a MILF background against each other. In the final result of the 40 party seats, the Bangsamoro Federalist Party (BFP) is just ahead of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) with 15 with 16. The BARMM Grand Coalition won eight seats. A total of 13 parties competed. Six mandates are reserved for women, young people, clergy and indigenous people, and 32 are filled by representatives of the districts.

Residents cast their votes at Pangandaman Central Elementary School in Masui, Lanao del Sur, for the first regular election to the Bangsamoro Parliament in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), after the election was previously postponed four times. Photo: IMAGO/Pacific Press Agency A particular success is the voter turnout: around two million of the almost 2.4 million eligible voters cast their vote - 82 percent. Not only George Erwin Garcia, the head of the National Electoral Commission (COMELEC), was delighted when he appeared in front of the press on Tuesday.

According to the government news agency PNA, Senate President Scherwin Gatschalian, head of the powerful second chamber of parliament, spoke of a "milestone for democratic change": "I am convinced that this clears the way for lasting peace and economic development in Mindanao."

The left-wing coalition party Akbayan also congratulated the people in the southern region on this success with a statement on its website. At the same time, she warned: "Democracy remains threatened where extreme poverty and inequality persist and where clan-based warlordship, loose weapons, private armed groups and extremist threats continue to shape political life." Violent incidents on election day resulted in four deaths and 19 injuries despite a high police presence.

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