Three people were killed and 15 others injured in a shooting in Cotabato City on Sunday evening, hours before the first regular parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the southern Philippines began.
Commission on Elections places Cotabato under its supervision
Philippine Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the commission placed Cotabato City under its direct supervision after the incident and would appoint an official to oversee it during the electoral process. Voters went to polling stations on Monday, 14 September 2026, to choose members of the regional parliament in a vote marking the transition from the Bangsamoro transitional authority to an elected regional government.
The Commission on Elections also classified dozens of areas according to varying risk levels based on records of election-related violence in previous polls. The election had been scheduled for an earlier date before being rescheduled to 14 September 2026 under a legislative amendment. The Philippine presidency declared the day a special non-working holiday in the region to enable residents to participate in the vote.
