President Marcos has called on the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) troops in Sulu to ensure the peaceful conduct of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections next year.

Marcos said this as he met the 11th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army (PA) in the province on Friday, July 5.

In his remarks, the President said the BARMM parliamentary elections must be peaceful and safe.

“Napakahalaga dahil kailangan nating masabi na nahalal itong mga members of the parliament, na nahala ito nang tama (This is important because we have to be able to say that the parliament members are elected properly),” he said.

President Marcos called on the AFP to make sure the political exercise was not disrupted by terrorism and political violence as he reminded them that elections should be won in peace.

“Walang terrorism, walang political violence. Basta’t minimized natin lahat ‘yan (No terrorism or political violence. All that must be minimized),” he said.

“Let us not sit on our laurels. Let us not become complacent because these are challenges that we will have to manage,” he added.

This will be the first time for the country to conduct parliamentary elections for BARMM. The polls will coincide with the midterm legislative elections on May 12, 2025.

According to Marcos, peace in Mindanao is one of the government’s priorities.

“That is all in the interest of peace. We do this because we want peace to continue in this area, in the Southern Philippines. We do not want to see the kind of fighting that we saw many decades ago,” he said.