THE National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) releases its preliminary assessment of the first regular Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections, held on September 14, 2026, in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
NAMFREL has been accredited by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) as a citizens’ arm for the BARMM Parliamentary Elections and is a member of the Independent Election Monitoring Center (IEMC) for BARMM. NAMFREL Bantay ng Bayan volunteers were deployed to voting centers across the region to observe election day procedures and submit field reports.
NAMFREL congratulates the Bangsamoro people for exercising their right to vote in the first-ever regular parliamentary elections in the region — a milestone that is the direct result of decades of struggle for self-determination and peace. That nearly 2.4 million registered voters turned out despite the circumstances is a testament to the Bangsamoro people’s commitment to democratic participation. NAMFREL also expresses its deep appreciation to all its Bantay ng Bayan volunteers in BARMM for their dedication throughout the election period.
Conduct of elections
NAMFREL notes that the automated election system performed as designed. Transmission of election returns proceeded, with 95.72 percent of returns received by midnight of September 14. The Commission on Elections acted decisively when problems were encountered, placing Cotabato City and Maluso, Basilan under its direct control and ordering the reprinting and transport of replacement ballots for affected precincts in Maluso. Voting in Maluso has been extended to September 15 to allow the 16,563 registered voters in the 36 affected precincts to exercise their right to vote. NAMFREL welcomes these measures as necessary to protect the integrity of the vote.
Proclamations remain pending completion of the Maluso returns.
Violence and disturbances to peace and order
NAMFREL strongly condemns the violence that accompanied the first BARMM Parliamentary Elections, particularly in Cotabato City, the seat of the Bangsamoro regional government.
At least five people were killed and eighteen others wounded in a series of incidents in Cotabato City beginning on the evening of September 13 and continuing into the morning of September 14. These included a shootout outside a voting center in Barangay Bagua 2, an explosion the night before polling, and a shooting inside the Central Pilot Elementary School as voters prepared to cast their ballots. Seven incidents in total were reported by police in the city: three shootings, three explosions, and one recovered improvised explosive device.
NAMFREL observers also reported an exchange of gunfire approximately 700 meters from a polling center in Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao del Norte, where ten armed individuals were arrested at a checkpoint. In Al-Barka, Basilan, the delivery of election materials was delayed by clashes involving armed groups, necessitating an extension of voting hours. In Maguindanao del Sur, personnel reportedly linked to a local official’s family were observed entering a voting center while elections were underway.
Violence has no place in a democratic process. NAMFREL calls on the appropriate authorities — law enforcement and the Department of Justice — to conduct a thorough, impartial, and transparent investigation into all election-related violent incidents, to identify those responsible, and to bring them to justice without delay.
Ballot integrity
NAMFREL is deeply concerned by the discovery of pre-shaded ballots in 36 out of 68 precincts in Maluso, Basilan, before voters were able to cast their votes. This is not an isolated administrative lapse. It required access to official election materials prior to voting — access that should not have been available to any partisan actor. NAMFREL supports COMELEC Chairman Garcia’s call for Congress to review and amend the law governing the custody and possession of official ballots, so that ballot security is no longer dependent on the integrity of officials who may be subject to political influence.
NAMFREL calls for a full chain-of-custody investigation to determine how the Maluso ballots were accessed, by whom, and on whose instruction.
Vote-Buying and other irregularities
NAMFREL observers reported incidents of vote-buying in Barira, Maguindanao del Norte, as well as reports of voters casting ballots multiple times at a voting center in Buldon. NAMFREL is continuing to gather and verify reports from its volunteers and will include these in its subsequent assessments.
Assessment
NAMFREL recognizes that the conduct of this election is a significant achievement for the Bangsamoro peace process. The political track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro has now, formally, reached its first democratic milestone. That the Bangsamoro people voted — and voted in large numbers — is a demonstration of what the peace process was meant to make possible.
At the same time, NAMFREL wishes to be clear: the election produced a popular mandate. It has not yet produced a government. No party has secured the 41 seats needed for a parliamentary majority on its own. The formation of a governing coalition and the selection of the Chief Minister by the newly-elected Parliament will take place after October 30. These are the next critical steps, and they carry the same weight for the peace process as the election itself.
NAMFREL’s assessment of the first BARMM Parliamentary Elections is therefore one of cautious recognition. The exercise of the vote was a step forward. The integrity concerns raised — lives lost in the regional capital, pre-shaded ballots in Basilan, vote-buying and multiple voting in Maguindanao del Norte — are not footnotes. They are reminders that the work of building a credible democratic culture in the Bangsamoro continues beyond election day.
NAMFREL will continue to monitor the completion of voting in Maluso, the canvassing and proclamation process, and the formation of the first elected Bangsamoro Parliament. Our monitoring will remain active through the seating of Parliament on October 30 and the selection of the Chief Minister.
NAMFREL urges all political parties, winning candidates, and their supporters to abide by the results, to reject all forms of intimidation and violence in the post-election period, and to engage in a transparent and rules-based process for the formation of a parliamentary government that truly reflects the will of the Bangsamoro people.
This preliminary assessment is based on observations submitted by accredited NAMFREL Bantay ng Bayan volunteers deployed across BARMM, and on information gathered from verified reports current as of 9:00 AM, September 15, 2026. Subsequent bulletins will be issued as additional observations are received and verified, and as the electoral process proceeds to proclamation. PR
