Pre-election tension turns bloody in Maguindanao del Sur: 1 dead, 3 hurt

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The Climate Conflict Action Asia documents 219 election-related deaths since October 2024, surpassing the 2023 barangay and SK poll fatality count of 165, with most cases involving gun violence

COTABATO, Philippines – A suspected member of a private armed group was killed, three others were wounded, and seven others were captured in separate clashes in the Bangsamoro province of Maguindanao del Sur as tensions rose days before elections, the military said on Saturday, May 10.

The first firefight broke out shortly after midnight in Barangay Pandag, Pandag town, involving armed supporters of a barangay chairman identified by authorities as belonging to a potential private armed group. 

They were engaged in a 90-minute gun battle with the group of Morsid Mamalinta, also linked to pre-election violence, according to a military situation report.

When troops from the 1st Mechanized Brigade responded to the firefight at 12:25 am, they were fired upon and forced to return fire. No government casualties were reported, the military said.

A second clash occurred at 10:05 am on the same day in the same village, where troops encountered about 15 fully armed men, triggering a 20-minute firefight.

The military said they recovered three M16 rifles, two Garand rifles, an M653 rifle with a grenade launcher, several magazines, grenades, ammunition, and bandoliers.

Brigadier General Patricio Ruben Amata, assistant division commander of Joint Task Force Central and the government’s ceasefire monitoring committee head, confirmed the incidents.

Separately, the Army reported that two soldiers were wounded in clashes with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) 118th base command in Shariff Aguak town.

Authorities said clearing operations were ongoing and that pursuit operations against the armed groups had been launched.

Grim situation

The battles come against the backdrop of a grim warning issued by the watchdog Climate Conflict Action Asia (CCAA). 

As of Friday, the CCAA said it has already recorded 219 deaths since the filing of certificates of candidacy began in October 2024 through a critical events monitoring system.

The death toll, nearly all from gun-related incidents, already exceeded the 165 fatalities recorded during the 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, a period that stretched from the July 3 filing of candidacy to election day that year.

“With conflict events multiplying in recent weeks, the risk of a far worse cycle of violence on election day is no longer speculative. It is imminent,” read part of a CCAA statement released by its communications manager, Louise Marie Lara.

Comparatively, the 2025 figures — collated ahead of the May 12 elections — signal a disturbing escalation. The CCAA’s monitoring, far more extensive than in previous cycles, painted a stark picture: a region on the edge, besieged by “the porous and puny implementation of the gun ban,” “unauthorized checkpoints and voting blockades,” and a “climate filled with voter intimidation and political bullying.”

In Maguindanao del Sur, the bullets have already begun to fly. And election day hasn’t even arrived.

Violence outside BARMM

But even in another region in Mindanao, far from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), violence was also reported.

Just past 2 am, while most of the Northern Mindanao town of Sagay in Camiguin Island slept, the media service van of Manuel Jaudian, former president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC), was destroyed by fire — set deliberately, journalists now believe.

Plastic containers and a crude torch soaked in accelerants were found beside the charred vehicle.

“The fire personnel and I found a plastic container and a makeshift torch for ignition, emitting flammable vapor/odor,” Jaudian said.

The message behind the attack was unmistakable, according to COPC president Froilan Gallardo: silence the press.

“This is an act of terrorism against the free press,” Gallardo declared. “But we shall continue to do our duty in informing the people and fulfilling our mandate as the fourth estate.”

The small island province, comprising only five towns, is the political stronghold of a political dynasty led by Jurdin Jesus Romualdo, representative of the province’s lone district, who inherited the political leadership from his father, the late governor and congressman Pedro “Loloy” Romualdo. Members of the Romualdo family have taken turns serving as governor and representative of the province since the 1990s.

Jaudian, who once ran for congressman in Camiguin, is a known critic of the Romualdos. – with reports from John Sitchon/Rappler.com