September 10, 2026, Cotabato City — After several postponements and delays, Bangsamoro voters will finally choose their first elected parliament on 14 September 2026, ending the transition period that began in 2019. 

With four days left until the 14 September BARMM Parliamentary Elections, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) calls on all stakeholders to make the 4-year wait worth it. All stakeholders should ensure that the Bangsamoro voter will be able to vote freely. Fear, intimidation, money, promise of money or good/program/benefit, and undue influence should not accompany the Bangsamoro voter on Monday.   

Regional parliamentary political parties and nominees, district representative candidates, parliamentary sectoral organizations, and their supporters must observe campaign rules through the close of the campaign period on 12 September, and refrain from campaigning and any form of unlawful electioneering on 13 and 14 September.

Voters must maximize the remaining days to get to know their parties, candidates, and sectoral representatives, and to stay vigilant against election violations, including vote buying, breaches of the 10-day ayuda ban, and intimidation. Voters should report what they encounter, and refrain from spreading mis- and disinformation or divisive narratives that put a peaceful election at risk. 

Media also play a crucial role in these final days: avoiding the inadvertent amplification of content designed to mislead or sow division, and to prioritize the dissemination of helpful information to help voters when they cast their votes. 

The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) is ready to observe this historic election and stands alongside Bangsamoro voters in monitoring polls to ensure a safe, accountable, transparent, and inclusive election that will inspire public confidence in the process and results.

Election Day Monitoring

For its Election Day monitoring, LENTE will deploy 313 trained grassroots monitors and 10 supervising lawyers and area coordinators across 209 voting centers, covering approximately 17 percent of all voting centers in the region, and supported by four lawyers and personnel at its headquarters in Cotabato City. Monitors will be in all six provinces and three cities of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

LENTE observers will conduct purposive and systematic monitoring of Election Day processes, focusing on three areas: 

• compliance with the General Instructions of the Commission on Elections and the Bangsamoro Electoral Code in the conduct of voting and counting;
• accessibility of voting for persons with disabilities, senior citizens, indigenous voters, and persons deprived of liberty; and
• common Election Day irregularities and offenses.

LENTE will also continue its Time and Motion Study, measuring how long voters take to complete the voting process and how Electoral Boards and Support Staff conduct the voting and counting, at regular, accessible, and priority polling places. Monitors will also be deployed to all three special polling places established for persons deprived of liberty, in Cotabato City, Maguindanao del Norte, Marawi City, Lanao Del Sur and Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.

Long-term observation of the election and campaign period

LENTE’s work to safeguard the integrity of these historic elections began well before the campaign period. It sustained monitoring of the shifting political, electoral, and legal landscape through the pre-election period, and engaged institutional partners on reform, voter education, and capacity building efforts – building on years of work in the Bangsamoro since the 2019 plebiscite. 

On 30 July 2026, at the start of the campaign period, LENTE deployed 14 long-term observers across all six provinces of the BARMM. Over the past six weeks, they have observed how campaign period rules are being implemented on the ground, how regional parliamentary political parties are conducting their campaign and voter education activities, and whether the campaigning of parties, candidates, and sectoral organizations reaches the full range of stakeholders in the region. 

A key observation in LENTE’s long-term observation is the difference in how campaigns are being run. Established parties and their sectoral wings and newly-formed parties, independent candidates and parliamentary sectors organizations use differing strategies, with the latter working without the organizational infrastructure and resources that more established ones can draw upon. LENTE notes that current campaign rules being applied were written with a presidential system in mind. These rules do not capture the nuances of a parliamentary system, where the emphasis is on parties rather than individuals. 

These preliminary observations will form part of LENTE’s final report that will capture all observations, insights, and recommendations from this long-term observation. These long-term observers, alongside LENTE’s area coordinators and supervising lawyers, will observe the final days of campaigning as well as the conduct of Final Testing and Sealing on September 12, 2026. 

Social media monitoring

LENTE began tracking election-related narratives in the region earlier this year and launched a dedicated social media monitoring in August, covering four groups of actors: 

• official accounts of regional parliamentary political parties, government information channels including COMELEC and the Bangsamoro government, and parliamentary sectoral organizations;
• affiliate accounts identified through a uniform search protocol applied across all parties;
• local media pages with demonstrated reach in the region; and
  unattributed accounts producing election
• content at volume without disclosed political affiliation.

Three patterns stand out from initial monitoring.

1. First, the widespread use of AI-generated and synthetic content in campaigning.
2. Second, inflammatory and divisive narratives circulating through affiliate and unattributed accounts.
3. Third, procedural mis- and disinformation about the parliamentary system and Election Day processes.

With four days left before the polls, LENTE urges COMELEC, fellow civil society organizations, and media to mount a final push to reach voters, maximizing all information channels available such as traditional and online media. Information efforts should focus on the aspects of the electoral process where confusion can lead to disenfranchisement on Election Day.

Equally important, we urge all stakeholders to guard against disinformation in these final days — not only false claims about the electoral process, but content designed to provoke anger and incite violence between supporters of parties and candidates.

Continued voter education efforts 

LENTE has sustained its voter education and capacity building activities across the Bangsamoro through the repeated postponements of the region’s first parliamentary elections. From August 2025 to May 2026, it reached 6,975 voters across 159 sessions in barangays, schools, universities, and government offices, in partnership with government agencies, civil society organizations, and academic institutions.

In recent weeks, LENTE has concentrated its efforts on vulnerable sectors, conducting voter education sessions for persons deprived of liberty at the Cotabato City Jail, Marawi City Jail, the Lanao del Sur Provincial Jail, and the Bongao District Jail, and for persons with disabilities in Cotabato City, in partnership with peoples organizations, the Persons with Disability Affairs Office, and the OSCA.

A key challenge to effective voter education is the introduction of changes to electoral rules and procedures close to Election Day. Such changes affect legal certainty and limit the time available for election stakeholders to adequately inform voters of their rights, choices, and the consequences of their vote. This concern is particularly significant in the BARMM, where voters are electing their first Parliament under a system of government that remains new to many Bangsamoro voters

LENTE stresses that voter education, while essential, cannot substitute for sustained civic education in the Bangsamoro parliamentary system. Understanding how to cast a vote is only one part of meaningful electoral participation. Voters must also understand the institutions they are electing, the roles of political parties and Members of Parliament, how a government is formed, and how elected officials may be held accountable. Civic education must therefore continue beyond Election Day and form part of the long-term democratic transition in the Bangsamoro.

Final Reminders

With the campaign period ending on 12 September 2026, we remind all regional parliamentary political parties, district representative candidates, parliamentary sectoral organizations, their supporters, and public officials to observe campaign period rules in the remaining days, in any form of campaigning, physical or digital. We also call on Bangsamoro voters to reject vote buying and intimidation, which distort the democratic process and disrespect the right of suffrage.

LENTE reminds all election stakeholders that:

• civil service employees and uniformed personnel must remain non-partisan;
• social welfare program beneficiaries must not be coerced into supporting any candidate;
• digital platforms must not be used to harass or bully; and
• vulnerable sectors, including persons with disabilities, older persons, Indigenous Peoples, and persons deprived of liberty, must be treated with dignity and given equal access to the electoral process.

LENTE urges voters to stay informed on the electoral process, scrutinize the platforms and plans of parties, candidates, and sectoral organizations, and to remain vigilant by documenting and reporting violations they encounter. 

Through Election Day, LENTE and its trained volunteers stand ready to observe, respond, and report on developments on the ground. The Bangsamoro region has waited years for this election. It should be peaceful, and it should reflect the will of its voters.

For inquiries regarding this, please contact:
Atty. Ona Caritos, Executive Director
0976-610-2617
0929-672-7165