BASILAN’s hard-won peace should pave the way for a peaceful, orderly and honest election in the province, a Catholic bishop said Sunday, September 13, 2026, as voters prepare to cast their ballots in Monday’s, September 14, Bangsamoro Parliamentary Election.
Bishop Leo Dalmao, said Basilan’s experience of relative peace in recent years offers an opportunity for the province to demonstrate to the Bangsamoro region what sustained peace can achieve.
“We pray that the peaceful gains we have made in the past years will also bear fruit in an orderly, peaceful and honest election,” Dalmao said in an interview.
Basilan has long been associated with armed conflict and violence, but the bishop said the province should build on the progress it has achieved in recent years.
He also expressed hope that the election would produce “better and good leaders” for Basilan and the Bangsamoro region.
He also said no candidates had recently approached him for guidance on the election, noting that he had just returned from a trip outside the province.
Meanwhile, Basilan Governor Mujiv Hataman has appealed for a peaceful and credible Bangsamoro Parliamentary Election, urging political parties to play fair and allow voters to freely cast their ballots.
Hataman described the September 14 election as historic as the first parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro region and called on all stakeholders to respect the voters’ choice.
On election security, he said preparations were more than adequate based on briefings from security and government agencies.
He acknowledged concerns over the heavy military presence but said it was preferable to have security forces prepared rather than respond only after trouble breaks out.
Hataman said the election is particularly significant because it forms part of the peace process involving the government and formerly armed groups, while noting that decommissioning remains unfinished and tensions persist in some areas. (SunStar Zamboanga)