COMMENTARY: Loren Legarda’s spokesperson, the self-proclaimed “human rights lawyer” Tony La Vin̈a, has been silent on the Manila Polo Club meeting even if the incident can be easily verifiable.

On Sept. 14, residents of the Bangsamoro in the southern Philippines will elect regional parliamentary representatives. In this Q&A, Crisis Group expert Georgi Engelbrecht explains the importance of this step in the peace process between the national government and ex-rebels in the region.

As BARMM enters its historic first parliamentary elections, thousands of police and military forces have been deployed across the region in order to ensure a “safe” election season. However, public safety may not be so easily achieved since, as Sandatahang Dahas data has shown, state agents themselves are often the perpetrators of violence–even against their own.