The Philippine Army sent no less than 1,500 troops to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to strengthen election security more than a month before the region holds its first parliamentary elections on Sept. 14.

PA spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala said the deployment of three battalions and a joint special operations team was intended to support ongoing security operations and enforce the election gun ban in BARMM.

“We have already deployed additional troops to BARMM. They continue to conduct security operations, particularly in implementing the gun ban in the BARMM area,” Dema-ala said.

He said the reinforcements came from the 28th Infantry Battalion, 75th Infantry Battalion, 2nd Special Forces Battalion, and the Joint Special Operations Team from higher headquarters.

They joined troops from the 6th Infantry Division, 1st Infantry Division, and 11th Infantry Division already operating in the region.

“A battalion-sized unit has almost 500 personnel. We have at least three battalions and one joint special operations team,” Dema-ala explained.

Security agencies continue to prepare for the first BARMM parliamentary elections, which will choose members of the Bangsamoro Parliament under the region's autonomous government.

Dema-ala said the Army remains in close coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to keep the elections peaceful.

“As of now, we continue to coordinate with the Philippine National Police on the security situation there. Our field commanders also continue engaging with communities to ensure that the upcoming BARMM election will be peaceful and orderly,” he noted.

He said security officials continue discussing possible threats during coordination meetings even if no specific challenge has emerged.

“All possible challenges are being discussed during our coordinating conferences. We cannot predict what those challenges will be. But rest assured that the Philippine Army, Philippine National Police, and the Comelec are working together to ensure these possibilities are mitigated or completely prevented,” Dema-ala assured the public.

However, conflict monitoring group Climate Conflict Action Asia reported more than 600 violent incidents in BARMM from January to June this year, covering the period when the election campaign began.

Despite the report, Dema-ala said the Army has not monitored election-related violence so far.

“Compared with previous incidents, we have not seen or received any reports from the Philippine Army of incidents related to this election,” he said.

On areas that could be declared election hotspots, Dema-ala said the authority rests with the Comelec.

“It is up to the Comelec to declare the hotspots. However, we continue coordinating with the Philippine National Police and the Comelec on areas where we previously reported the presence of lawless armed groups,” he said.

He added that the Army has not seen any immediate threat from those groups but will continue its operations against them.

“At present, we do not see any threat from them. However, we continue our security operations against these lawless armed groups. We are not stopping. Following the guidance of our Chief of Staff [General Antonio Nafarrete] and the Commanding General of the Philippine Army [Lt. Gen. Donald Gumiran], there will be no letup in our security operations,” Dema-ala said.