Presidential Adviser on Peace Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Wednesday that a prediction of a group that violent incidents could increase ahead of the 2025 Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is “not a reality”.

“For me, it’s not a reality because we just came from different camps. We have an inter-Cabinet cluster on normalization,” Galvez told reporters.

“These predictions of the other group, it paints some doubt. But we have to be positive... I’m very positive. Maybe there are some violence sa pre, post, and during (the elections), but that happens to all our elections. We have what we call critical areas,” he added.

“I believe through education and also information, it will harness some understanding and it will also create some positive results,” he said.

Galvez also said he believes that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Commission on Elections (Comelec), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are ready for the first BARMM polls.

Conflict Alert, a conflict-monitoring group, previously released a report showing there has been an uptrend in violence since 2021 and it is expected to worsen as the first 2025 BARMM elections draw near.

According to the report, Maguindanao province where the BARMM government sits, recorded the highest number of violent incidents from 2021 to 2023.

Most conflicts in Maguindanao were caused by feuds and schisms within the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), it added. Jaspearl Tan/DMS