Polls open in Philippine Muslim enclave after deadly shooting

But the fragile peace showed cracks in the early hours of Monday.

Three people were killed and 15 others wounded as gunfire erupted hours outside a school-turned-polling station in regional capital Cotabato just hours before polls opened.

Cotabato police chief Jibin Bongcayao said the shooting took place just before midnight as members of rival political factions jostled for the right to cast their votes first.

“It started as a struggle for position in the queue between two groups,” Bongcayao said of the shooting outside a school being used as a polling station in the regional capital.

“It led to shoving, escalated into a fistfight, and eventually gunfire broke out in a crowded area.”

Bongcayao added that the men had belonged to rival parties that have emerged from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the group that spent decades fighting for regional autonomy in the predominantly Catholic country.

Security has been stepped up across the BARMM in recent days, with more than 20,000 security personnel fanning out in voting areas and quick response teams assembled to address potential violence.

Last month, a motorcade carrying the region’s interim chief minister – an appointee of President Ferdinand Marcos – was ambushed and peppered with bullets.

In a separate incident, a man died in hospital in the early hours of Monday following an explosion near another polling station. Police are still investigating the cause.