PPCRV says no ‘true discrepancies’ in Bangsamoro poll audit

File photo. Election watchdog PPCRV continuing its unofficial parallel count of physical elections returns of the first BARMM elections on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. INQUIRER.net photo by Dianne Sampang MANILA, Philippines — The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) concluded its parallel audit of the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections on Sept. 23, reporting no true discrepancies between the physical electoral returns (ERs) and transmitted electronic election data.

PPCRV spokesperson Ana Singson said the election watchdog did not find any discrepancies in the results during its audit, although it flagged irregularities involving streaks found on some physical ERs.

“We have not found any true discrepancy, none so far. Irregularities or issues like streaks [are the only ones that] came up,” Singson told the Inquirer.

Singson said PPCRV was encouraged by the accuracy of the data despite the irregularities it found.

The election watchdog flagged streaks on some physical ERs that prevented them from being scanned and counterchecked against the transmitted electronic data.

Singson said 46 ERs, or 1.1 percent of the total audited ERs, were found to have streaks. About 54 percent of these came from Lanao del Sur, while smaller numbers were found in Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte and Basilan.

“They (Comelec) really have to check this. Because 1.1 percent in BARMM may not be crucial. But in 2028 [national elections], that 1.1 percent is huge and it can define an election or could define who loses or wins the elections,” Singson said.

PPCRV reiterated that the streaks should be investigated to determine their cause, which could involve transportation, printers or the automated counting machines themselves.

Of the 5,176 precincts with transmitted data, PPCRV was able to scan 4,265 ERs by the end of the day, including 300 additional ERs from Lanao del Sur that arrived later in the day. This accounted for nearly 82 percent of the total ERs in BARMM.

“In the past elections, the average ER [retrieval rate] of BARMM is at 51 percent, which tells you how important this is to get and the effort they put into it. Because for the first time, they are choosing their leaders,” Singson said.

Singson said PPCRV received more than 5,000 ERs but excluded duplicate copies as well as copies used for final testing and sealing.

The election watchdog also reported 36 missing ERs, the majority of which came from Lanao del Sur. However, PPCRV was able to obtain 31 physical ERs out of the 36 initially reported missing.

PPCRV obtained 17 of the 18 missing ERs from Lanao del Sur, nine of 11 from Maguindanao del Norte, three from Maguindanao del Sur, one of three from Basilan and the lone missing ER from the Special Geographic Area.

Singson said she was “happy” that the overall election was peaceful despite the issues that emerged during the voting period.

“We are happy that it is peaceful, we were prepared. We had contingency plans for our volunteers but we did not need any of that,” Singson said.

PPCRV had to extend its volunteer workforce on Wednesday, including students and teachers from AMA and volunteers from PPCRV to finish the audit at the end of the day. Other rooms were also converted into scanning and archiving centers to accommodate the workload. /mr