A high-ranking official of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) reaffirmed on Saturday the commitment of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to ensure honest, peaceful, and credible elections as they prepare for the Bangsamoro region’s first-ever parliamentary election.

“Ang aim ho namin is that we will be able to conduct an honest, peaceful and credible election kung saan mataas po iyong voter’s turnout . At ito po ay tinitingnan ho natin na importante para ho doon even sa post-election. ‘Ika nga na [para ang ] reconciliation ay mas magiging madali. So, iyon po ‘yung ginagawa namin for the past couple of weeks leading up to the first parliamentary elections,” BARMM Cabinet Secretary Mohd Asnin Pendatun said in a news forum in Quezon City.

To ensure the election’s success, Pendatun said various efforts are being made, including the conduct of information-education campaigns in BARMM.

“Kaliwa’t kanan po iyong atin pong mga information-education campaign at iyon pong ating mga gagawing mga microsonic,” Pendatun said.

“This has been done and we will do [it] in partnership with various civil society organizations. At malaki din ho iyong ating pasasalamat sa Comelec for their support sa Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” he added.

Pendatun also reported *a* significant improvement in BARMM’s security situation, saying that “vertical conflicts” were essentially addressed by the peace process.

“It has been effectively better peace and security situation. Iyon pong vertical conflict, meaning iyong revolutionary groups versus our security forces [were] essentially addressed by the peace process,” he said.

Pendatun said they will remain vigilant and will *continue to monitor* for emerging *conflicts* or violence during *the elections*, knowing that horizontal conflicts such as clan wars still exist in the region. |PND