Peace adviser urges peaceful, credible first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections
Peace Adviser Mel Senen Sarmiento urges Bangsamoro voters to turn out for the region's first parliamentary elections on Sept. 14, 2026, calling it the final milestone of the peace process.
NEWS
9/13/20261 min read
Presidential Peace Adviser Mel Senen S. Sarmiento issued a statement Sept. 13 ahead of the Bangsamoro region's first parliamentary elections, urging voters to turn out and calling on candidates and supporters to keep the polls safe and credible.
Sarmiento tied the election to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the Bangsamoro Organic Law and the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, citing a ceasefire that has held and thousands of former combatants disarmed as proof of the peace process's gains. He also quoted President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who called Bangsamoro's electoral participation "the clearest sign that they have [taken] the path of choosing the political process over picking up their weapons."
Images: OPAPRU | Benyamen Cabuntalan/ BIO