Comelec to launch voter education campaign in BARMM

MANILA, Philippines — To ensure the success of the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will launch a massive voter education campaign in the region.

Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiango said the voter education campaign targets BARMM residents who would select for the first time members of the Bangsamoro parliament.

Up 80 parliamentary seats will be filled during the May 12 elections, including 40 representatives of regional political parties, 32 for parliamentary districts and eight for sectoral  groups.

These sectoral groups include non-Muslim indigenous peoples, settler communities, women, youth, traditional leaders and ulamas.

“The BARMM parliamentary election is the culmination of the Bangsamoro people’s struggle for recognition and self-determination. We deem it important to educate the BARMM voters on the new voting system to ensure the success of this historic electoral exercises,” Laudiangco said.

The poll body’s education and information department (EID) will also conduct voter education  micro-summits in the Bangsamoro region in September.

Experts from the Comelec’s EID and law department as well as the Bangsamoro electoral office are expected to discuss the rudiments of the regional parliamentary elections.

They will focus on what voters in the region need to know about the elections such as the composition of the parliament, system of proportional representation, allocation of parliamentary seats and how the voting will be conducted.

“It is our hope that after the summit, we will be able to secure the participating organizations’ commitment to help increase awareness in the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections,” Laudiangco said.

The Comelec EID will send voter education teams to all BARMM provinces to conduct the voter education and information campaign at the grassroots.