Comelec implements gun ban in BARMM

A gun ban will be implemented in the Bangsamoro region as the election period for the 2025 BARMM parliamentary election starts on Thursday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said. 

According to the Comelec, the election period is slated from August 14 to October 28. The campaign period, meanwhile, will run from August 28 to October 11.

The BARMM elections is set on October 13, 2025. 

During the election period, the following activities are likewise prohibited:

• Use of security personnel or bodyguards by candidates, unless authorized in writing by the Commission.
• Alteration of territory of a precinct or establishment of a new precinct.
• Transfer or detail of officers and employees in the civil service, except upon prior approval of the Commission.
• Organization or maintenance of reaction forces, strike forces, or similar forces.
• Suspension of elective, provincial, city, municipal or barangay officer without prior approval of the Commission.
• Illegal release of prisoners

Violators may face imprisonment from one to six years, and not subject to probation. They may also be disqualified from hold public office and lose the right to vote. 

Meanwhile, poll chief George Erwin Garcia ealier said the Comelec is continuing its preparation for the BARMM elections as they started setting up checkpoints and coordinated with the police and military to ensure public safety during the election period. 

Garcia also said they recommended the lifting of control over Buluan, Maguindanao del Sur and Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte as the election period starts. 

“Regular na ginagawa pa rin natin tulad ng paglalagay ng ibat ibang checkpoints sa important points d'yan sa buong Bangsamoro Region,” he told reporters.

(We are implementing regular security measures such as setting up of checkpoints in important areas in the Bangsamoro region.)

BARMM polls

The Bangsamoro polls was reset from May 12 to October 13, 2025 after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  in February signed into law the measure postponing the first-ever parliamentary elections. 

The suspension came months after the Supreme Court (SC), in September 2024, upheld the validity of the Bangsamoro Organic Law but declared that Sulu was not part of BARMM. The Court denied motions seeking the reversal of the decision in November 2024.

The SC ruling necessitated the redistribution of the seven vacated seats originally allocated to Sulu under the Bangsamoro Electoral Code. However, the Bangsamoro government has yet to issue a decision on the reallocation. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News