Comelec bares plans for BARMM parliamentary elections

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday outlined its preparations for the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), scheduled on September 14.

During a media and stakeholders’ walkthrough of Data Center 3 in Makati City, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said the poll body is studying the accreditation of media organizations from BARMM for election coverage.

"Tingnan po natin kung paano sapagkat mas gusto nating mabigyan ng priority yung media ng Bangsamoro para dito," Garcia said.

(We’re looking into how to accredit media organizations in Bangsamoro because we want to give them priority for their elections.)

The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas has been Comelec’s primary media partner for election coverage.

Data Center 3 houses the servers for the dominant majority and minority political parties, the citizens’ arms, and the media server, which allow stakeholders to monitor transmitted automated election results.

Garcia said Comelec is also determining the dominant majority and minority regional political parties in BARMM to grant them access to the servers.

During the 2025 midterm elections, Comelec declared Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats as the dominant majority party and Nacionalista Party as the dominant minority party. However, Garcia said these parties are not participating in the BARMM polls.

Comelec is also aiming to transmit automated election returns as early as 7 p.m. on election day.

To address possible technical issues, the poll body will deploy 10 contingency machine units per municipality across BARMM.

A total of 6,500 machines will be delivered to 5,212 precincts for the parliamentary polls.

Comelec is likewise continuing to assess schools that will be used as polling precincts following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck offshore Maasim at 7:37 a.m. on June 8.

"Patuloy ang aming monitoring kasi may mga ibang development. Hindi naman kinakailangan na lindol lang ang pwedeng makapekto sa lugar kung saan ikokonduct ang halalan," Garcia said in an ambush interview.

(We continue to monitor conditions because there may be other developments. An earthquake is not the only thing that can affect places where elections will be conducted.)

According to the Department of Education, around 3,500 schools in Region XI (Davao Region) and Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN) remain closed following the earthquake.

DepEd also reported that 5,590 affected schools have resumed classes, although thousands remain unable to reopen due to safety concerns and damage to school facilities.—MCG, GMA News