Manila, Sep 14 (IANS): Three people were killed and 15 others wounded during a shooting incident before midnight Sunday at a polling center in Cotabato City, Maguindanao del Norte province in southern Philippines.
The shooting occurred ahead of the parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which started on Monday to choose its first elected parliament, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to local police, rival political factions struggled for position in the queue for polls, leading to shoving, fistfights, and eventually gunfire in the crowded area.
According to local media reports, over 2 million voters are eligible to vote for 80 parliamentary seats being contested by 13 parties. Security has been stepped up across the BARMM in recent days, with over 20,000 security personnel deployed to polling areas and rapid response teams set up to deal with potential violence.
Monday’s historic vote is seen as a crucial step towards self-governance after decades of insurgency and violence in the Muslim-majority region.
Nearly 2.4 million voters are registered to cast their ballots in the election, which international partners and peace monitors see as a crucial test of whether the regional autonomy established under a 2014 peace agreement between Manila and Muslim separatists can be sustained through democratic institutions.
The autonomy arrangement was designed to bring an end to a conflict that claimed more than 120,000 lives, displaced around 2 million people.
“The election marks a milestone in the continuing journey of BARMM towards lasting peace, democratic governance and meaningful self-determination,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a video message urging voters to take part in what he also described as a “defining moment” for the region and the country.
