By The South Asia Times

Philippines  - Voters in the Muslim-majority Bangsamoro autonomous region in the southern Philippines went to the polls Monday in the region’s first parliamentary election, a landmark step in a peace process aimed at ending decades of armed conflict on Mindanao island, Kyodo News reported.

Nearly 2.4 million registered voters were eligible to choose lawmakers who will replace the 80-member interim parliament appointed by the Philippine central government in 2019.

The election is part of the peace framework agreed in 2014 between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s largest Islamic rebel group. The agreement paved the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the transition from armed insurgency to self-government.

Despite heightened security, violence was reported at several locations.

Philippine Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia said at least four people were killed and 18 injured in election-related incidents.

Kyodo reporters witnessed supporters of rival political groups clash at one of the region’s largest polling centers, with some people beating an opposing supporter while another person opened fire. Voting was temporarily suspended for several hours as police and military forces moved in to restore order.

An explosion was also reported in Cotabato City, the seat of the Bangsamoro government.

Authorities in Basilan province separately discovered tampered ballots. Garcia said voting hours could be extended in areas where disruptions delayed the process.

Despite the incidents, the national police described the election as "generally peaceful and orderly," reporting a 97.38 percent voting status across monitored areas.

- A milestone in the peace process

The parliamentary election was originally scheduled for 2022 but was postponed three times because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other political and legal issues.

Bangsamoro covers parts of central and southern Mindanao and is the Philippines’ only region governed through a parliamentary system. Its population of about 4.5 million represents roughly 4 percent of the country's population.

The Bangsamoro people trace their heritage to the indigenous Muslim populations of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Armed conflict between Moro groups and the predominantly Christian Philippine state has lasted for decades.

The Moro National Liberation Front began an organized insurgency in the late 1960s, followed by the MILF in the 1970s. Philippine government estimates say at least 150,000 combatants and civilians were killed before the government and MILF signed their comprehensive peace agreement in 2014.

- Former rebels enter politics

The MILF is now participating in the political process through its United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), which hopes to retain influence over implementation of the peace agreement, including the decommissioning of remaining MILF fighters and programs aimed at improving their economic and social conditions.

However, the former rebel movement faces internal divisions.

Abdulraof Macacua, the MILF's former military chief and former chief minister of the interim Bangsamoro government, has joined the Bangsamoro Federalist Party (BFP), which is viewed as closer to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s political camp and supports federalization of the Philippines.

The 80-seat parliament will include 40 members elected through party lists, 32 from electoral districts and eight representing sectors including women, youth, non-Moro residents and other social groups.

The elected lawmakers will subsequently select the region's chief minister from among themselves.

More than 100 international election observers from 16 organizations and delegations, including representatives from Japan, are expected to monitor the election.

Official results are expected Tuesday.

The election is being closely watched as a test of whether the former insurgency can be transformed into a functioning democratic political system and whether the Bangsamoro peace process can deliver greater self-government while reducing the risk of renewed violence.