Gunfire Kills 3 Outside Cotabato Polling Station Hours Before Vote

Gunfire outside a polling station in Cotabato City killed three people and wounded 15 others hours before voting opened on Monday in the Philippines’ Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Cotabato police chief Jibin Bongcayao said the shooting broke out just before midnight as members of rival political factions jostled to cast their votes first. “It started as a struggle for position in the queue between two groups,” he said. “It led to shoving, escalated into a fist-fight, and eventually gunfire broke out in a crowded area.”

Commission on Elections chairman George Garcia reported that Cotabato City had been placed under the commission’s control after the shooting. In separate incidents in the city, a blast from an improvised bomb injured the person carrying the explosive, and a gun was fired without causing injury. A man died in hospital in the early hours of Monday following an explosion near another polling station; police are investigating the cause.

The town of Maluso in Basilan was also placed under commission control after pre-shaded ballots were found in 36 of 68 precincts. Garcia ordered the immediate reprinting of ballots for the affected precincts.

Security was stepped up across the region ahead of the vote, with more than 20,000 personnel deployed. Last month, a motorcade carrying the region’s interim chief minister was ambushed and hit by bullets.

Around 2.4 million people are eligible to vote for 80 parliamentary seats, contested by over 600 candidates. The ballot is the region’s first parliamentary election since Bangsamoro was established in 2019, ending the transition period under the appointed Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

Polling stations closed at 7pm local time, with results expected as soon as Monday evening. The winners’ terms run from October until June 2031.

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