Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chairman George Garcia said they aim to finish the printing of the official ballots for the BARMM parliamentary elections by September 15.
During the House Committee on Appropriations hearing on Monday, September 1, Garcia announced that the COMELEC had begun preparations last week.
“We printed up to yesterday, three provinces already. The provinces of Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and SGA, the eight municipalities of the Special Geographic Area,” Garcia said.
“Ngayon po, we started with the printing of the Maguindanao South and the Maguindanao North. We’re hoping to finish the printing of the ballots…more or less 2.3 million ballots of the Bangsamoro until completed— kasama ang verification—September 15,” he added.
Sulu 2nd District Rep. Munir Arbison asked Garcia during the hearing to enlighten him about the BARMM election preparations, citing ML Partylist Rep. Leila de Lima’s comment about the armed groups and their followers.
However, the COMELEC Chairman assured that the agency is properly monitoring the areas in Maguindanao, especially the armed groups, with declarations. So far, Garcia emphasized that no untoward incidents have been observed around the area and that the rights of the people are being observed along their checkpoints.
Peace and Order
Garcia highlighted that they are going to lift the COMELEC control for the two municipalities of Maguindanao: Datu Odin Sinsuat and Buluan, because of the general peace and order situation.
“Originally, noong May 2025, we placed two areas under COMELEC control: the municipality of Buluan and the municipality of Datu Odin Sinsuat. Because of the general peace and order situation after the declaration, we are going to lift the order, placing these two municipalities under COMELEC control,” he assured.
Meanwhile, Garcia announced that around 7,000 electoral board members, including election paraphernalia, would be deployed by September 16. He also mentioned that each province would have designated hubs for voting, including repairs.
Additionally, 10 more machines were added per municipality for the elections this coming October.
