The Philippines held the first-ever regular election for the Bangsamoro Parliament on September 14, 2026, closing a transition that has run since the autonomous region was formed in 2019 under the Bangsamoro Organic Law. The election of 78 of the parliament's 80 seats follows the interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority, which governed the Muslim-majority region in place of an elected legislature. Two non-Moro indigenous peoples' sectoral seats were filled separately in August. The path to polling day was one of repeated delay. Originally scheduled for May 9, 2022, the election was postponed four times, first to May 2025 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the absence of a Bangsamoro Electoral Code, then to October 13, 2025, after the Supreme Court ruled that Sulu province was not part of the region, and again to no later than March 31, 2026, after the court declared two districting laws unconstitutional. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 12317 on March 25, 2026, setting the current date. ## The Numbers Behind the Vote About 2.393 million registered voters were eligible to choose the 80-seat parliament, composed of 40 party representatives, 32 district representatives and 8 sectoral representatives, with 41 seats needed for a majority. Partial unofficial results as of 9:59 p.m. on September 15, with 99.35 percent of election returns processed, place the Bangsamoro Federalist Party first with 674,001 votes, or 35.5 percent. The United Bangsamoro Justice Party, the party of the MILF, follows at 610,272 votes, or 32.2 percent, with the BARMM Grand Coalition at 387,677 votes, or 20.4 percent. The four qualifying parties account for 38 of the 40 party-representation seats. Comelec chairperson George Garcia welcomed the participation figure. "We're happy with the more or less 80 percent voter's turnout result of the BARMM parliamentary elections," Garcia told Super Radyo dzBB. The commission's media server separately showed partial turnout of 98.60 percent of ballots cast among returns processed as of Tuesday afternoon. ## Violence Shadows a Historic Day The Commission on Elections described the polls as generally peaceful, but at least four people were killed and 19 others wounded, with most victims logged in a shootout in Cotabato City on the eve of the election. Malacanang responded directly. "Even if just one person was hurt, the President would not be happy with it, even if you say that the elections yesterday were generally peaceful and orderly," Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said. BARMM Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, who won the Maguindanao del Norte Third District seat as an independent candidate, called the election historic. "But we cannot ignore the painful reality that violence occurred in some areas, particularly in the City of Cotabato," Macacua said. "To those who were injured and lost someone, we will not forget you." The commission is also pursuing fraud allegations. Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said the culprit behind pre-shaded ballots in 36 polling precincts in Maluso, Basilan will face electoral sabotage charges carrying a penalty of life imprisonment. The commission had received 99.29 percent of election returns, 5,175 of 5,212 expected, as of 10:33 p.m. on September 15, with official proclamation of the full parliament still pending.