June 6, 2025
The October 2025 parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was supposed to mark a historic milestone: the first opportunity for the Bangsamoro people to democratically elect their own regional government under a parliamentary system. But troubling developments suggest that the very institution meant to protect democratic rights—the national government—is now becoming the primary obstacle to the exercise of suffrage in the Bangsamoro.
Despite the absence of any official bill filed in Congress, credible reports have surfaced that some groups within and close to Malacañang are quietly working to delay the polls once more. If true, this would represent the third postponement of the region’s first-ever parliamentary election. And with each delay, the promise of autonomy, peace, and democratic participation grows more distant and disillusioning for the Bangsamoro people.
Make no mistake: this is no longer about logistics, preparedness, or peace and order. This is about control.
A Pattern of Interference
Bangsamoro leaders and local civil society have already pointed fingers at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU), led by Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., and Antonio Lagdameo Jr., Special Assistant to the President, for alleged interference—not just in the upcoming parliamentary election, but also in the 2025 national and local elections. While these accusations have yet to be publicly investigated, the perception alone is damaging enough. It reinforces a growing belief that Manila continues to see the BARMM not as a self-governing entity with a mandate for autonomy, but as a political territory to be manipulated.
This kind of intervention flies in the face of what the peace process was all about.
The Bangsamoro people did not struggle, negotiate, and sacrifice for decades just to remain under the thumb of national political appointees and bureaucrats who have no electoral mandate from the region’s constituents. The people of BARMM deserve to choose their leaders—freely, fairly, and on time.
The MILF Has Spoken. Will the Government Listen?
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the primary revolutionary group that negotiated peace with the Philippine government and helped bring about the BARMM, has issued a clear and unequivocal statement: the election must proceed as scheduled on October 13, 2025. MILF Vice Chairman and BARMM Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal, speaking on behalf of the organization, appealed to all national stakeholders to respect the law and allow the democratic process to unfold.
Iqbal’s message was not only a call to action but a warning: the peace in the Bangsamoro is fragile, and democracy, once denied, does not return easily.
“The MILF is ready to seek a legal mandate through the sovereign will of the Bangsamoro people—in a clean, fair, honest, and credible election,” Iqbal stated. “Let us not waste the gains we have made.”
Indeed, the MILF is not asking for special treatment or guaranteed victory. It is asking only for the right to compete, to be judged by the people it has long fought for. The group has even expressed its willingness to accept defeat if that is the will of the electorate—proof of its democratic maturity and respect for the process.
Who Benefits From Another Delay?
Delaying the election yet again raises serious questions: Who benefits? Who is afraid of facing the will of the people?
Certainly not the MILF, which has publicly declared its readiness to accept whatever the outcome may be. Certainly not the people of BARMM, who have waited long enough to be governed by officials they themselves have chosen.
The answer lies elsewhere: in the corridors of power in Manila, where unelected officials, political operators, and power brokers continue to treat the Bangsamoro region as a bargaining chip in their broader games of influence and control.
This betrayal of democratic principles must stop.
A Crisis of Credibility
Every postponement chips away at the credibility of the national government’s commitment to the peace process. It undermines the legitimacy of the current Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), which remains an appointed body lacking a direct mandate from the people it claims to serve. If the government insists on another delay, it risks provoking deep resentment, political instability, and even unrest in a region where peace has been painstakingly built over the past decade.
If the Marcos administration truly supports peace and democracy, it must prove it—not through speeches or press releases, but through action. That action must begin with a firm, unequivocal guarantee that the October 2025 elections will proceed as scheduled, and that no backdoor deals or executive maneuvers will override the will of the Bangsamoro electorate.
Let the People Decide
The time has come to trust the people of BARMM with the power that has long been denied to them. The time has come to end the culture of delay, interference, and manipulation. The time has come for the Bangsamoro people to exercise their right to vote and to shape their own future.
If democracy means anything at all in this republic, then it must mean something in the Bangsamoro, too.
Let the elections proceed. Let the people decide.