Manila, 14 September, 2026 (Ghufran): Voting began on Monday in the Philippines’ Muslim-majority south under heightened security after election-eve violence left three people dead and 15 others wounded, in a historic poll seen as a key test of the region’s peace process. The Commission on Elections placed Cotabato City under its control following Sunday’s violence, when an argument at a polling station reportedly escalated into gunfire. Election Commission Chairperson George Erwin Garcia condemned the violence but said elections across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) had remained generally peaceful despite logistical challenges, including the reprinting of ballots. Nearly 2.4 million voters are registered for the election, which is being closely watched by international partners and peace monitors as a test of whether the autonomy granted to the region under a 2014 peace agreement between Manila and Muslim separatists can be sustained through elected institutions. The autonomy deal was aimed at ending a conflict that killed more than 120,000 people, displaced around two million and provided space for extremist groups to gain a foothold in the region. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. described the election as a defining moment for the region and the country, while former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said the vote fulfilled the long-held aspiration of the Bangsamoro people to choose their own leaders through the ballot box.