Three killed in shooting before historic Philippines BARMM election

Three people were killed and at least 15 others injured in a shooting outside a school polling station in Cotabato City, Philippines, hours before the historic first parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The violence erupted around 11:41 p.m. on September 13, 2026, according to the Cotabato City Police Office. Cotabato police chief Jibin Bongcayao stated the shooting began as a dispute over queue position between rival political factions. "It started as a struggle for position in the queue between two groups," Bongcayao said. "It led to shoving, escalated into a fistfight, and eventually gunfire broke out in a crowded area." He identified the involved groups as rival political parties that emerged from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the group that fought for regional autonomy. The BARMM parliamentary election proceeded on schedule on September 14, with over 2 million eligible voters. The vote is the culmination of a peace process that began in the late 1990s and is intended to establish the region's first elected parliament. Security was heightened across the region, with more than 20,000 personnel deployed.