LAMITAN CITY — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Basilan has finalized its operational, logistical and security infrastructures for the historic first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections on Sept. 14, 2026.
Lawyer Miguel Roberto Dela Peña, acting provincial election supervisor for Basilan, said that a total of 248,245 registered voters are expected to cast their ballots across 189 voting centers in the province.
The upcoming polls signify a monumental milestone for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), marking the formal establishment of a regional parliamentary democratic structure.
Dela Peña said that the poll body has strengthened its coordination efforts with security and civic stakeholders to guarantee that the regional exercise proceeds without disruption.
“Our priority is to ensure that the elections are peaceful, orderly and credible, and that every registered voter can exercise the right to vote safely and properly," Dela Peña said.
As part of these security measures, law enforcement agencies are deploying additional personnel to safeguard polling places and secure vulnerable transport corridors across the island province.
Local authorities and security commanders have also established contingency mechanisms to manage potential logistical challenges in remote island municipalities and densely populated voting districts.
Data retrieved from the Consolidated Project of Precincts outline an administrative layout consisting of 1,571 established precincts and 534 clustered precincts distributed in the province’s 210 barangay (villages).
Voter populations vary significantly by locality, creating unique logistical distribution requirements for election day materials and equipment deployment.
Lamitan City registers the highest concentration of registered voters in Basilan with 56,042 citizens eligible to cast ballots.
The municipality of Maluso accounts for the second-largest voting bloc with 32,121 registered voters followed by Sumisip and Lantawan with 27,727 and 22,610 registered voters, respectively.