Palace on BARMM poll deaths: Marcos ‘won’t be happy’ even if one person is hurt

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (PCO)

Even though authorities reported that the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro region were “generally peaceful,” President Marcos is not happy that incidents resulting in the deaths of at least four people occurred.

Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said even if only one person was hurt, the President will not be happy about it.

“Kahit isang tao lang po ang nasaktan hindi po ikasasaya ng Pangulo (Even if only one person was hurt, the President would not be happy about it),” Castro said in a Palace briefing on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

“Kahit sabihin po natin generally peaceful and orderly iyong nangyaring eleksyon kahapon basta po mayroong kahit isa na nasaktan hindi po magiging maganda ang pakiramdam ninuman lalung-lalo na ng Pangulo (Even if we say that, generally, the election held yesterday was peaceful and orderly, the fact that even one person was hurt would not sit well with anyone, especially the President),” Castro stressed.

The Palace official said the President has instructed authorities to closely monitor the situation and protect Filipinos from such incidents.

Despite the election-related deaths, Malacañang maintained that the election was generally peaceful and orderly.

“Although hindi nanaisin ng Pangulo at ng administrasyon na ito na mayroon pong nangyayaring karahasan at ito naman po ang ipinag-uutos ng Pangulo na bantayan mabuti, protektahan ang ating mga kababayan sa mga ganitong klaseng insidente but nag-report na po ang PNP, according to PNP, generally peaceful and orderly po iyong naganap na eleksiyon (Although neither the President nor this administration wants any violence to occur, and the President has instructed authorities to closely monitor the situation and protect our fellow Filipinos from these kinds of incidents, the PNP has already issued its report stating that, according to the PNP, the election was generally peaceful and orderly),” Castro said.

“So, sa pananaw po ng administrasyon ay naging maganda naman po ang naging eleksiyon kahapon sa BARMM (So, from the administration’s perspective, the election in the BARMM yesterday was generally successful),” Castro added.

According to the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary election conducted on Sept. 14, 2026, was “generally peaceful and orderly despite some isolated incidents particularly in Cotabato City.”

“Initial reports show a high voter turnout of 82.41 percent which may still increase as the remaining voting centers complete the voting process. This is 4.79 percent points higher than the 77.62 voter turnout recorded in BARMM during May 2025 National and Local Elections,” Castro said quoting the PNP.

All election paraphernalia have already been accounted for and returned. So far, no other significant untoward incidents had been reported, the PNP added. — Betheena Unite