Voters in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will go to the polls on September 14 for the region’s first parliamentary elections. The BARMM, which includes five provinces, three cities, and 63 villages grouped into eight special geographic areas, has nearly 2.4 million registered voters. Election officials hope for an 80% turnout, which would be a significant increase from previous years when elections were postponed. These elections will decide 80 seats in the region’s legislative body, with voters selecting one regional party, one district representative, and six sectoral representatives. The 40 seats allocated to political parties will be distributed based on the proportion of votes each party receives. The region’s chief minister, who leads the executive branch, will be elected by the members of parliament in their first session through a majority vote. The BARMM was created in 2014 through a peace agreement brokered by Malaysia, which involved the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group in the region. The deal ended the MILF’s demand for an independent Muslim state and instead granted them broader autonomy. The new region was intended to be more powerful and better funded than the previous autonomous area, with a transition period led by former guerrilla leaders, culminating in the first regular elections. However, the MILF has delayed the disarmament of its remaining 14,000 fighters, citing unfulfilled socio-economic promises by the government. Last year, a government official noted that the MILF had decided to put off decommissioning these fighters and their weapons. A local research institute, the Institute for Autonomy and Governance, has raised concerns that the partial disarmament of MILF fighters and the group’s division into two rival political parties could increase the risk of violence, potentially undermining voter confidence. To address this, over 20,000 military and police personnel will be deployed to secure polling stations. Commission on Elections Chairman Erwin Garcia emphasized the goal of ensuring that voters can cast their ballots safely and without disruption. Mindanao, where the BARMM is located, has a long history of conflict. Centuries of colonial rule by Spain, the United States, and Filipino Christian settlers have contributed to the marginalization of Muslim communities in a region rich in natural resources. Decades of conflict over land, resources, and political power have resulted in approximately 150,000 deaths since the 1970s. Concerns about Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia have also been raised by Western and Asian governments, given the region’s history of insurgencies, private armies, and clan wars. Michael Henry Yusingco, a researcher at the Ateneo Policy Center, has warned that without a political culture rooted in collective responsibility, mutual respect, and the common good, parliaments risk becoming battlegrounds for personal rivalries and factional disputes. He emphasized that for parliamentary democracy to succeed in the BARMM, regional parties must demonstrate these values, especially given the region’s history of clan politics, electoral violence, and patronage-based loyalties.