Three people have lost their lives and at least 15 others have been injured after rival political supporters opened fire ahead of a tense election.
Local media outlet GMA reports that a shootout broke out outside a school in Cotabato City, in the Philippines on the eve of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections.
The incident occurred around 11.41pm between several armed men in front of Datu Usman Mampen Elementary School in Cotabato City, according to initial information shared by the Cotabato City Police Office.
Footage from the scene showed the flashing lights of an ambulance as heavily armed officials stood nearby.
Ballots will be cast in an autonomous southern Philippine region on Monday in its first parliamentary elections.
The vote is a crucial step in the process for self-determination and lasting peace after years of insurgency and violence.
BARMM covers five provinces, three cities and 63 villages across eight special geographic area clusters. It has nearly 2.4 million voters.
Election officials are aiming for an 80% turnout after polling was postponed for several years.
The region has seen decades of intermittent but bloody conflicts over land, resources and political power.
Colonialism by Spain, the US and Filipino Christian settlers turned Muslims into a minority group in resource-rich Mindanao, the southern third of the Philippine archipelago from which the BARMM was carved out.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
