MANILA: A predominantly Muslim region in the southern Philippines held its first parliamentary elections on Monday, seen as a crucial step in the long quest for self-rule after decades of insurgency and violence.
A shooting in Cotabato killed three people and injured 15 late Sunday, prompting the Commission on Elections to temporarily take over the administration of the city. Police were investigating. Another person was killed Monday in a commotion that broke out in a Cotabato polling center. Still, officials said the elections were generally peaceful.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was set up under a 2014 peace deal that saw the largest Muslim rebel group give up the goal of a separate Muslim state in the south of the largely Roman Catholic country in exchange for broader autonomy. The group's 40,000 fighters promised to demobilize and join civilian life.
In other incidents, the town of Maluso on Basilan Island also was put under the commission's control after pre-shaded ballots were found in 36 out of 68 precincts. Commission on Elections Chairman Erwin Garcia said he immediately ordered the reprinting of ballots while voting will be delayed there. He said those responsible will be held accountable.
As of early Monday, 98.1% of the region's precincts were able to open, according to the commission.
"Whoever wins, hopefully we will see change in our place," said Sittie Ashuya L. H. Omar, a 22-year-old voter from Marawi city. "Hopefully they can implement their promises."
Mindanao used to be a battlefield between militants and troops
In May 2017, Islamic State group-linked militants laid siege on Marawi, triggering five months of ground assaults and airstrikes that left more than 1,100 people, mostly militants, dead and destroyed the mosque-studded city's commercial and residential districts.
Since the 1970s, about 150,000 combatants and civilians have died in the southern Philippines, while development was stunted in the country's poorest region. Western and Asian governments feared the tenacious insurgencies could help foster Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia. With bombing attacks and kidnappings, Mindanao used to be a haven for al-Qaida and the IS before a U.S.-backed Philippine offensive weakened the militants.
More than 20,000 soldiers and police forces were deployed for elections, while troops carrying long arms patrolled roadsides.
There are 80 seats at stake in the elections that will determine members of parliament. The region comprises five provinces, three cities and 63 villages with nearly 2.4 million voters. Election officials said they expected an 80% turnout after polling was postponed for several years.
The region's chief minister, who heads the executive branch, will be elected by parliament in its first session.
"The elections stand on generations of Bangsamoro struggle for homeland, identity, and self-determination, in the face of dispossession, marginalization, conflict and sacrifice," Garcia said in an earlier statement.