The Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade has started tightening security in isolated areas in several towns in Cotabato and in the 63 Bangsamoro barangays in the province as part of its May 12 election security mission.
Brig. Gen. Ricky Bunayog, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, told reporters on Thursday, May 8, that their deployment of troops in potential election flashpoint areas in Cotabato province are closely coordinated with provincial and municipal police officials.
The brigade, which is under the 6th Infantry Division, has jurisdiction over the 34th and 40th Infantry Battalions and more than 400 soldiers from different units of 6th ID, deployed in Cotabato province in recent weeks as augmentation forces to boost its election security thrusts.
Bunayog also has operational control over two big Army artillery units, equipped with 155 computer-controlled canons mounted on six-wheeler trucks, assigned to their brigade headquarters in Carmen, Cotabato.
“All our election security efforts are closely coordinated with the Commission on Elections and the municipal and provincial officials in Cotabato province. We are operating under the guidance of the Commission on Elections and the commander of the 6th Infantry Division,” Bunayog said, referring to 6th ID’s commander, Major Gen. Donald Gumiran.
Gumiran, who, as 6th ID’s commander also leads the anti-terror Joint Task Force Central, said on Thursday that they are thankful to the mayors in Cotabato and the members of its multi-sector Provincial Peace and Order Council, led by Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, for supporting the election security preparations of Bunayog and the officers of units under him.
Radio reports on Thursday stated that Mendoza, who is also chairperson of the Regional Development Council 12, covering four provinces and four cities in Region 12, has directed her constituent-mayors in the province to exercise their powers, based on the Local Government Code, in helping the Comelec, the 602nd Infantry Brigade and the provincial police ensure safe elections on May 12 in their respective municipalities.
Cotabato province has 63 barangays in different towns that got grouped together as the Special Geographic Area-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region after residents voted in favor of the inclusion of their domains into BARMM’s core territory in a referendum in 2019.
The 63 SGA-BARMM barangays, some of which are known election hotspots, are now under eight new municipalities, created recently via separate enabling measures by the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament. Several SGA-BARMM barangays are beset with bloody clan wars involving armed factions openly supporting rival candidates for municipal and provincial elective positions.
“The appointed local executives in these eight newly-established Bangsamoro municipalities have assured to support our election security initiatives,” Gumiran said. (JFU, May 8, 2025)
