Historic elections in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region after deadly shooting

Polling stations opened Monday in a predominantly Muslim Philippine region to elect its local Parliament for the first time, a few hours after the death of three people in a shootout between groups from the main local rebel group.

The vote is the culmination of an intermittent peace process, begun in the late 1990s, which resulted in the creation of the autonomous Bangsamoro region in the south of the predominantly Catholic country. More than two million voters are called upon to allocate 80 seats, contested by 13 political parties. Until now, parliamentarians were appointed.

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In Marawi, a city battered in 2017 by five months of clashes between jihadists and government forces, long queues in front of polling stations under the guard of members of the security forces and armored vehicles. In this region marked by political violence and family feuds, a smooth election would be considered a success, party leaders recently said.

Shooting between rivals

But on Sunday, three people were killed and 15 injured Sunday shortly before midnight in a shooting in Cotabato, the capital of the autonomous region. According to local police chief Jibin Bongcayao, the shooting occurred as members of rival political factions vied for the right to vote first. “Initially, it was a dispute between two groups for places in the queue” in front of a school serving as a polling station in the regional capital, explained the police official.

The quarrel “resulted in shoving which escalated into a fight and ultimately shots were fired in a crowded area.” The police officer added that the men involved in the shooting belonged to rival outfits from the Philippines' largest rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has fought for decades for autonomy in the region.

In total, separatist violence has caused 150,000 deaths since the 1970s. Security has been reinforced throughout the region, partly located on the island of Mindanao. More than 20,000 members of the police have been deployed. Last month, a convoy carrying the acting local government head - appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos - was attacked. Separately, a man died in hospital early Monday after an explosion near a polling station, which police are investigating.