Philippines' BARMM Holds First Parliamentary Election — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Nearly 2.4 million registered voters are casting ballots in the first parliamentary election for BARMM, the autonomous region in the Philippines' Muslim-majority south.
- The 2014 peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front ended a conflict that killed more than 120,000 people and displaced about 2 million, leading to BARMM's creation after a 2019 plebiscite ratified a 2018 autonomy law.
- BARMM's 80-member parliament will be elected through proportional representation (40 seats), district representation (32 seats), and sectoral seats (8), making it the only region in the Philippines governed under a parliamentary system; the parliament will then elect the chief minister.
- BARMM's economy grew 5% in 2025, up from 3.5% in 2024 and outpacing the national growth rate of 4.4%, according to regional and national accounts cited in the source.
- Former MILF rebels, rival factions, and traditional political clans are competing for power in an election that marks the first time BARMM's autonomous institutions will be led by officials chosen through elections rather than appointed.
- The election completes the transition from an appointed interim government to an elected regional government, the culmination of a decade-long peace process.
Why it matters: The vote transfers power in the only autonomous region addressing long-standing Muslim separatist grievances from an appointed interim body to a parliament chosen by 2.4 million voters — replacing interim stewardship with direct democratic accountability for the first time since the 2014 peace deal ended a conflict that killed over 120,000.
Ask SkimNews
