Bangsamoro vote opens after 3 killed near poll station

Voters in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao began casting ballots on Monday in the region's first elected parliamentary vote, hours after a shooting outside a polling station killed at least three people and wounded 15 others, police said.

More than two million voters are eligible to choose 80 parliament seats contested by 13 parties in the autonomous Muslim region in the southern Philippines. The vote follows a long peace process that began in the late 1990s and led to the creation of the region.

Cotabato police chief Jibin Bongcayao said the shooting happened just before midnight outside a school being used as a polling station in the regional capital, as members of rival political factions pushed to cast their votes first.

“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.”

Bongcayao said the men belonged to rival parties that emerged from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the group that fought for decades for autonomy in the predominantly Catholic Philippines.

In Marawi, AFP journalists saw long lines of voters outside polling stations, with tanks and security personnel standing watch. Mohammad Actar Macabada, 18, said after voting that he was excited for the results but nervous because of possible chaos.

Security has been increased across the region, with more than 20,000 security personnel deployed in voting areas and quick response teams formed to address potential violence.

In a separate incident, a man died in hospital early Monday after an explosion near another polling station. Police were still investigating the cause.