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- EDD K. USMAN | X (Twitter): @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 |Facebook: SDN – SciTech & Digital News
COTABATO CITY, May 12, 2025 (SDN) — As the election fever grips Filipinos for the last 45 days, including Election Day today, Monday, voters have started going to schools where they are registered to exercise their right of suffrage — that’s every citizen’s right to choose his or her chosen candidates.
Never mind if the candidates are traditional politicians (who are much maligned, maybe rightly or un-rightly), neophytes, professionals, ordinary citizens, women or men, LBTQs, or what have you.
The important thing is that Filipinos who are registered voters are practicing their inalienable right to either bring back officials, or un-seat them and give way to new faces.
For good or for bad, something that Filipinos would realize only after another three years, and when it is too late to make it right!
Over here in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), comprised of mainland (Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur) and island provices (Basilan and Tawi-Tawi), the Bangsamoro Government has established its 2025 Election Task Force Call Center Monitoring Data Base Unit Emergency Hotlines for everyone who has concerns or issues to call and report whatever they wish to report.
Headed by Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal, the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), one of the 15 primary ministries of the BARMM, established the monitoring center with Telephone Numbers: TM: 0953-182-4365, 0995-743-3171, 0936-780-9342, 0953-405-1492; Globe: 0966-557-9238, 0966-901-4490, 0956-932-2213; TNT: 0985-437-61-88.
BARMM Chief Minister Abdulraof A. Macacua, meanwhile, called on voters in the Bangsamoro region to embrace this moment with all seriousness.
“Choose wisely. Reflect carefully. Vote not just for personalities but also for principles, vision, and genuine service,” he says, two days before this year’s midterm polls.
The Bangsamoro top regional executive, who is the chief of staff of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), took the opportunity to also “urge the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and our security forces to remain fair, transparent, and accountable in carrying out their duties. Let this election be a true expression of democracy — free, peaceful, and honest.”
In relation with the political exercise in the six-year-old autonomous region borne out of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the BARMM cited the 2.3 million registered voters in the region.
The Comelec, as quoted by the BARMM Government, that 60.80 percent of the registered voters in the region are aged 15 to 40 years old, while women are about half of the registered voters at 49.47 percent.
Looking at these two data, the regional government said they “underscore a pivotal shift — Bangsamoro youth and women are no longer passive spectators but emerging as key political figures.”
Earlier, Iqbal, the chair of the MILF Peace Implementing Panel (PIP) for the 2014 CAB, called on the 12,000 teachers who are serving in the regional political exercise to demonstrate “exemplary behavior” and become not only workers in the election but as role models for the youth and the community.
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“Let the people decide who they want to vote for. When educators remain neutral, they help ensure that the people’s voice is heard and respected through a fair and honest election result.” — Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal
“We urge all teachers to avoid any form of political involvement — whether in action or appearance — that could compromise their (work) as partisan,” the MBHTE head says.
He said their participation is more than just a civic duty but a crucial contribution to the broader goals of of peace, stability, and democratic integrity in the Bangsamoro region in particular, and the country in general.
Across the nation, officials of the Comelec seize the opportunity to remind Filipinos to go to their polling precincts and apply their right to choose their leaders.
The Comelec officials also cited the importance of the vulnerable sectors of the country participating in the electoral process.
One example is that of lawyer Monalisa C. Mamukid, regional election director and head of the Vulnerable Sectors Office and the Random Manual Audit Committee (RMAC), Technical Working Group (TWG) 2025.
She voiced her call the other day to the nation’s vulnerable sectors.
“I urge every Filipino, particularly those of the vulnerable sectors, to exercise his or her right to vote in the May 12, 2025, elections. As we ensure inclusive and accessible voting for all, every voice shall be heard regardless of status,” Comelec Regional Director Mamukid emphasizes.
Meanwhile, on May 10, the BARMM’s Ministry of Health (MOH) under the leadership of Minister Dr. Kadil Sinolinding, Jr., announced the deployment of Emergency Health Posts (EHPs) across the autonomous region aimed at providing on-site medical assistance to help ensure safe and orderly voting.
The MOH statement emphasized that the initiative is in coordination with the Comelec and Local Government Units (LGUs) as the strategic placement of temporary medical stations near voting precincts is part of the deployment.
“The MOH-BARMM is taking the lead in establishing these emergency health posts in compliance with the orders of Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua,” says Sinolinding.
He added that the MOH is also activating its Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) to ensure a real-time monitoring, as well as the already-mobilized Integrated Provincial Health Offices (IPHOs), City Health Offices (CHOs), and hospital chiefs were mobilized.
Sinolinding assures further that “we are fully prepared to respond to any medical emergencies.”
Over at the MBHTE, Iqbal emphasized his message for a voting process that is free, honest, and orderly.
“Let the people decide who they want to vote for. When educators remain neutral, they help ensure that the people’s voice is heard and respected through a fair and honest election result.”
In a related development, the political wing of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) known as the United Bangaamoro Justice Party (UBJP) has also put up a Regional Monitoring Command Center (RMCC) in its ng UBJP Regional Headquarters in Barangay Tamontaka 2, this city, has been actively monitoring and responding to concerns from BARMM’s various areas to ensure safe, orderly, and peaceful polls for all the Bangsamoro people.
“Kung kayo po ay nakakaranas ng pananakot o anumang iregularidad, i-contact lang po ninyo ang numerong ito at aaksyunan namin agad, insha Allah,” the UBJP assures.
(Translation: If you are experiencing threats or any irregularities, just contact thes numbers and we will respond right away.)
- Basilan – 0965-755-3519
- Cotabato – 0965-756-7447
- Lanao del Sur – 0965-755-3517
- Maguindanao del Norte – 0965-755-3520
- Maguindanao del Sur – 0965-755-3519
- Special Geographic Areas (SGA) – 0965-755-7443
- Sulu – 0965-756-7444
- Tawi-Tawi – 0965-755-3516
Macacua voted at a Barangay Gambar precinct this morning as he again called for an honest, clean, and orderly political exercise.
It was his first time exercise his right to vote in 32 years, as he spent these many years in the Bangsamoro struggle for self-determination.
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This article was updated today, 4:41 p.m.