As Bangsamoro heads to historic polls, Philippines eyes Middle East role in peacebuilding, investment

MANILA: As voters head to the polls in Bangsamoro for the Muslim-majority region’s first parliamentary election on Monday, the Philippines says it counts on Middle Eastern partners to support peace and its reconstruction following decades of armed unrest. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM, covers five provinces in the southwestern portion of Mindanao, the Philippines’ second-largest island. It was created in 2019 to move a former conflict zone from an appointed trans