Another election, another wave of violence. Another list of casualties. Another cycle of blame. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has once again resorted to the usual band-aid solution: requesting the relief of the top police officials in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), specifically in Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur.
In its April 15, 2025 resolution, the COMELEC ordered the removal of Police Regional Director PBGEN Romeo J. Macapaz, and Provincial Directors PCOL Eleuterio M. Ricardo Jr. and PCOL Ryan Bobby C. Paloma, citing their gross failure to provide security for election officials despite repeated requests and follow-ups.
But let’s be clear: this is not the first time such action has been taken, and unless the government is willing to confront the real elephant in the room — the deeply embedded culture of warlordism, private armies, and the free flow of illegal firearms — this will not be the last.
Changing Police Chiefs Won’t Change the System
Relieving police commanders might scratch the surface of public outrage, but it will never scratch out the root of the problem. For decades, political warlords and well-entrenched clans in the Bangsamoro region have armed themselves to the teeth, built private militias, and used violence as a tool to cement power — not only during elections but every single day.
Why do we tolerate this?
Every election season, communities are forced to choose not between candidates, but between survival and death. Poll workers plead for security. Ordinary citizens live in fear. Families bury loved ones lost to another round of politically motivated killings.
And yet the cycle repeats — because the state seems unwilling, or unable, to dismantle the private armies and gun-running networks that have long held Bangsamoro hostage.
Guns, Goons, and Government Neglect
Illegal firearms and private armed groups are not an open secret — they are an open wound. No number of relieved police officials will change that. If anything, the lack of decisive action against these groups sends only one message: the warlords remain untouchable, and the ordinary voter remains disposable.
The police leadership might bear part of the blame, but the larger crime is the state’s chronic failure to enforce the law. Who supplies these weapons? Who protects these armed groups? Why do political dynasties still wield private armies like personal security agencies?
If COMELEC and the national government are truly serious about making elections safe, they must stop treating the symptoms and start amputating the disease.
Time for a War Against Warlords
The only way forward is bold, unapologetic action:
- Confiscate illegal firearms, house by house, barangay by barangay.
A war on loose guns must be waged with the same urgency and manpower as any national crisis. - Dismantle private armed groups.
Politicians known to maintain private armies should face immediate and non-negotiable disqualification, arrest, and prosecution. - Break the political dynasties’ stranglehold.
Without political will to challenge the warlords who thrive on violence, every election will remain a blood sport. - Empower the communities — not the clans.
Build civilian oversight. Strengthen grassroots watchdogs. Let the people — not guns — govern elections.
Stop Recycling the Same Excuses
The Bangsamoro people are tired of the same scripted response: “We’ve relieved the officers.” What they need is security, accountability, and justice — not ceremonial firings.
Real peace will never take root if the state continues to dance around the warlords and their armed enforcers. Relieving police officials might look like action, but it’s not a solution. It’s time to stop patching bullet wounds with bureaucracy.
The choice is simple: protect the voters, or protect the warlords. The clock is ticking.