The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday reported that it has begun the disposal of over 2.4 million official ballots printed for the postponed BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) parliamentary elections, supposedly on Oct. 13, 2025.

In March 2025, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed into law Republic Act No. 12317, resetting the first regular BARMM elections to the second Monday of September this year.

The transition period was also extended to allow the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority to continue governing “unless replaced by the President or their tenure shortened by their election to a different office.”

In a social media post, the poll body said 2,420,904 ballots would be destroyed to ensure that they could not be used in any way and to maintain the integrity, security, and credibility of the election processes.

It assured that the disposal of the ballots, deposited at the Comelec Biñan warehouse in Laguna, would be in accordance with existing rules and procedures of the commission.

The elections will cover five provinces (Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi); Special Geographic Areas consisting of 63 villages in North Cotabato; 32 districts; three cities; 105 municipalities; and 2,185 villages.

As of April, BARMM has 2.3 million registered voters; 1,186 voting centers; 14,2596 estimated established precincts; and 4,883 estimated clustered precincts. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)