Early violence mars election morning in BARMM regional center

MANILA, Philippines – Violence shadowed the start of election day in Cotabato City on Monday, September 14, with at least three people killed in a shootout, six wounded, and gunfire reported at and near polling places during the first parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The dead and wounded were caught up in a shootout outside Datu Usman Mampen Elementary School early Monday, where supporters of rival political groups clashed in a dispute over queuing, police said. The Cotabato City police said six people were wounded in the incident, including Councilor Marouph Pabo Pasawiran. The violence was felt elsewhere in the city — the seat of the BARMM regional government — as voting got underway. At Central Pilot Elementary School, warning shots were fired inside a polling precinct at about 7:05 am. Play Video The incidents followed an explosion on Sunday night, September 13, the eve of the elections, in Barangay Kapimpilan in Mother Kalanganan that left a man critically injured. Initial reports said the man, a resident of Poblacion 1, was believed to have been carrying an explosive device. Police were separately investigating gunfire near a mosque in Rosary Heights 10, an area behind Cotabato City Hall. BARMM police spokesperson Captain Steffi Salanguit said a black Toyota Grandia stopped near a group of people identified as supporters of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party before shots were fired from the vehicle. No injuries were reported in that incident, Salanguit said. Police were trying to determine the type of firearm used, identify those responsible, and establish what prompted the shooting. The incidents put security forces on heightened alert in Cotabato City as voters started taking part in an election that will determine the composition of the Bangsamoro Parliament, the region’s first since its creation in 2019. – with reports from Ferdinandh Cabrera,/Rappler