Marcos tells AFP to ensure 2025 BARMM elections will be peaceful

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday rallied the military to ensure that the parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) next year would be peaceful.

“Kailangan natin magkaroon ng peaceful na election sa darating na halalan,” Marcos told the troops of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' (AFP) 11th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army (PA) in Sulu.

(We need to have peaceful elections.)

“Napakahalaga dahil kailangan nating masabi na nahalal itong mga members of the parliament, na nahala ito nang tama,” he said, according to a news release issued by the Presidential Communications Office on Saturday.

(This is very important because we should be able to say that the members of parliament were elected in the right manner.)

Marcos said the BARMM elections should not be disrupted by terrorism or violence.

“Walang terrorism, walang political violence. Basta’t minimized natin lahat ‘yan," he said.

(No terrorism, no political violence. These should all be minimized.)

The BARMM will hold parliamentary elections on May 12, 2025, coinciding with the midterm legislative elections.

It will be the first BARMM parliamentary elections. Provinces that comprise BARMM are Sulu, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and Tawi Tawi.

“Let us not sit on our laurels kung baga (in a sense). Let us not become complacent because these are challenges that we will have to manage,” Marcos said.    

“At alam naman natin na napakalahaga na maganda ang takbo ng halalan, maganda ang pagpatakbo ng BARMM pagkatapos ng halalan,” he added.

(And we know that it is very important that the conduct of the polls is orderly, and the governance of BARMM is done well.)

Marcos said achieving peace in Mindanao is a priority.

“That is all in the interest of peace. We do this because we want peace to continue in this area, in the Southern Philippines. We do not want to see the kind of fighting that we saw many decades ago," he said.

BARMM was established in 2018 when former President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11054 (Bangsamoro Basic Law).

The law aimed to end decades of conflict in Mindanao by creating a political entity that would enjoy greater autonomy than the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The Bangsamoro government earlier urged more sectoral representatives to participate in the first BARMM parliamentary elections in 2025. —KG, GMA Integrated News