MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has begun destroying more than 2.4 million official ballots that were printed for the postponed parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

In a social media post on Saturday, the poll body said a total of 2,420,904 ballots would be disposed of to prevent any possible use and to preserve the integrity, security, and credibility of the electoral process.

The ballots had been printed for the BARMM parliamentary elections originally scheduled for Oct. 13, 2025.

The move follows the enactment of Republic Act No. 12317, signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in March 2025, which moved the first regular BARMM elections to the second Monday of September this year.

The law also extended the Bangsamoro transition period, allowing members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority to remain in office unless replaced by the President or until their tenure is shortened by election to another position.

Comelec said the disposal of the ballots, which are stored at its warehouse in Biñan, Laguna, would be carried out in accordance with the commission’s existing rules and procedures.

The upcoming BARMM elections will cover the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, and Tawi-Tawi. The exercise will also include the Special Geographic Area composed of 63 villages in North Cotabato, as well as 32 districts, three cities, 105 municipalities, and 2,185 villages.

As of April, BARMM had about 2.3 million registered voters, 1,186 voting centers, an estimated 14,259 established precincts, and 4,883 clustered precincts.