HOURS before the opening of polling precincts for the first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary election, political supporters from opposing sides engaged in a shootout that saw five individuals killed and 15 others wounded.
The incident occurred at 5 a.m. on Monday at the Datu Usman Mampen school site in Barangay Bagua 2 in Cotabato City.
According to Col. Jibin Bongcayao, Cotabato City Police chief, the violence erupted over a dispute regarding queue positioning for supporters.
Investigators learned that the confrontation began. when supporters of rival factions — identified as UBJP and BFP camps — began jostling for priority placement in the line.
“It started as a struggle for position in the queue between two groups,” Bongcayao said in a statement. “It led to shoving, escalated into a fistfight, and eventually gunfire broke out in a crowded area.”
Tensions flared further as midnight approached when the two groups crossed paths again, leading to an exchange of blows and subsequent gunfire.
Initial investigation had six wounded, including local Councilor Marouph Pabo Pasawiran. Authorities are continuing their investigation into the incident.
Earlier, a man was severely injured in an explosion Sunday in the area of Amirul School, Barangay Kapimpilan, Mother Kalanganan, also in Cotabato City.
According to reports, the victim is believed to have been injured by an explosive device that he was allegedly carrying himself. Sources said the victim is a resident of Barangay Kapimpilan.
Police Takes Over
Even before the bloody incidents occurred, some 800 teachers already begged off from administering the BARMM election, for which the Commission on Elections (Comelec) tapped cops to take over.
Months before the first parliamentary polls in the region, Comelec and the Philippine National Police (PNP) prepared a contingency measure that would see policemen take over in the event that teachers won’t show up.
The policemen were trained and certified by the Department of Science and Technology to operate the Automated Counting Machines (ACM).
“Most of the teachers were from Maguindanao del Sur,” Garcia told reporters after inspecting the regional canvassing area inside the Army’s Camp Siongco headquarters in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.
He said 137 teachers from Cotabato City did not show up during the final testing and sealing of Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) on Saturday and, per Comelec protocol, will be replaced by SEBs. The others were from Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, and the Special Geographic Area.
They have various reasons, mostly due to having relatives as candidates in parliamentary districts,” Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said.
Reports said the 839 teachers were apprehensive of possible hostilities in the Bangsamoro region so they withdrew from their September 14 election duties in polling places in areas with security concerns.
Region-Wide Absence
The teachers who withdrew from election duties were based in Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi and Maguindanao del Sur, the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area and Cotabato City.
The Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area has eight municipalities formed from 63 former barangays of Cotabato province that voted to join the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
DXMS, one of six radio stations in Central Mindanao operated by the Catholic Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation, also reported that 137 teachers in different schools in Cotabato City had asked election officials to excuse them from their poll assignments.
BARMM covers the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato. Its regional government center is in Cotabato City.
Bloody Clan Feuds
Some towns in Maguindanao del Sur and Lanao del Sur include communities of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and are also affected by violent clan feuds (rido in local parlance) involving armed groups, some of which are reportedly supporting rival aspirants for seats in the 80-member Bangsamoro Parliament.
Rido is marked by a continuing hostility between families or kinship groups; it involves a cycle of retaliation and revenge that can last for months, years, or even decades. It disrupts community peace, destroys property, and displaces families.
Maj. Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, acting commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command; Brig. Gen. Ricky Bunayog, acting commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division; and Police Brig. Gen. Christopher Abecia, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, have separately assured the public that their units are prepared to secure polling sites across BARMM.