Philippines' Muslim autonomous region holds 1st poll amid election violence

COTABATO CITY, The Philippines - Voters in the Philippines' Muslim-dominated Bangsamoro autonomous region went to the polls Monday amid heightened security for its first parliamentary election as agreed in 2014 by the country's largest Islamic revolutionary group and the central government in ending a decades-long conflict on the island of Mindanao.

Hopes are high among the nearly 2.4 million voters in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as they pick their parliamentarians, to replace the 80 members of the interim government, chosen by the central government, who came into power in 2019.