Cotabato, September 14 — Voters in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao cast ballots on Monday, May 12, 2025, to elect the region’s first-ever parliament, a landmark step in a decades-long peace process aimed at ending separatist conflict in the southern Philippines. The election follows the 2019 ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which created the autonomous region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The 80-seat Bangsamoro Parliament is the region’s lawmaking body, with 40 seats elected by proportional representation from political parties and 40 seats reserved for sectoral representatives.
A vote postponed three times
The May 12 vote was originally scheduled for 2022 but was postponed three times by the Philippine Congress, which extended the transition period led by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, an interim body appointed by the president. The election is administered by the Commission on Elections, which has faced logistical and security challenges in a region long plagued by clan violence and armed groups. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed a 2014 peace agreement with the Philippine government, is fielding candidates under its political party, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party.
Other major contenders include the Moro National Liberation Front factions and local political clans. The election is seen as a crucial test of the peace deal’s viability and the region’s ability to govern itself.
The 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed by the MILF and the Philippine government under then-President Benigno Aquino III. The 2019 Bangsamoro Organic Law was ratified in a plebiscite held on January 21 and February 6, 2019.
Observers and security
The election is monitored by international observers, including the United Nations and the European Union. Security forces have been deployed to ensure peace, and Comelec has declared certain areas as hotspots. The election results will determine the composition of the parliament, which will then elect a chief minister.
The vote is a critical moment for the Bangsamoro people’s aspirations for self-governance and for the Philippines’ broader peace and stability. What to watch next is whether the parliament, once seated, can convert an electoral mandate into functioning self-government — the test the peace deal has been building toward since 2014.
