Bangsamoro: A Comprehensive Overview

Bangsamoro at a glance

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is an autonomous region in the southern Philippines. It was set up under Republic Act No. 11054, the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which was enacted on July 27, 2018 and approved in plebiscites on January 21 and February 6, 2019. It replaced the old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

BARMM is the only Philippine region run under a parliamentary system. Voters elect an 80-member parliament (40 party seats, 32 district seats and 8 sectoral seats), and the parliament chooses the chief minister. The Supreme Court has confirmed that this autonomy covers internal governance only: defence, foreign policy, citizenship and foreign trade stay with the national government.

Today the region is made up of five provinces (Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi), Cotabato City, and the Special Geographic Area (SGA) in central Mindanao. Sulu, which the 2023 version of this guide listed as a BARMM province, is no longer part of the region (see below).

Population (2024 census)

The 2024 Census of Population, taken with July 1, 2024 as its reference date and declared official by Proclamation No. 973 in July 2025, counted about 5.69 million people in BARMM, up from 4.94 million in 2020. That was the fastest growth of any region (3.43% a year) and the largest increase in people (746,783). The census was taken before the Sulu ruling, so the total includes Sulu’s 1,146,097 residents. Without Sulu, the areas that make up BARMM today had 4,545,486 people.

Area	2024 census	2020 census
Lanao del Sur	1,368,137	1,195,518
Maguindanao del Sur	813,243	723,758
Maguindanao del Norte (excluding Cotabato City)	741,428	618,421
Basilan (excluding Isabela City)	541,947	426,207
Tawi-Tawi	482,645	440,276
Cotabato City	383,383	325,079
Special Geographic Area	214,703	215,433
BARMM today (without Sulu)	4,545,486	3,944,692

The region’s three cities are Cotabato City (383,383), Marawi City (259,993) and Lamitan City (116,652), all 2024 census figures.

Provinces and areas of Bangsamoro

Lanao del Sur

Lanao del Sur is the most populous part of BARMM. Its capital is Marawi City, set by Republic Act No. 2228 when Lanao was split into two provinces in 1959. Marawi grew from 207,010 people in 2020 to 259,993 in 2024; in 2017 it was occupied for five months by militants linked to the Islamic State. The province had the second-largest economy in BARMM in 2024 (PHP 78.21 billion at constant 2018 prices), with services as its largest sector at 38.5% of provincial output. Rice and corn are among its main farm products. Its northern neighbour is covered in the Lanao del Norte guide.

Maguindanao del Norte

Maguindanao del Norte was created when the old Maguindanao province was divided under Republic Act No. 11550, approved by voters on September 17, 2022. Its capital is Datu Odin Sinsuat (152,907 people in 2024), and it started with 12 municipalities. It was BARMM’s largest provincial economy in 2024 at PHP 85.16 billion, about a third of the regional total, led by services, construction and utilities. Parang, the planned new seat of the regional government, is in this province.

Cotabato City

Cotabato City voted to join BARMM in the January 2019 plebiscite, after rejecting Muslim autonomy in earlier votes. It is the region’s largest city, with 383,383 residents in 2024, and the seat of the regional government.

Maguindanao del Sur

Maguindanao del Sur, the other half of the 2022 split, has its capital in Buluan and started with 24 municipalities. It is the most farm-dependent economy in BARMM: agriculture, forestry and fishing made up 51.1% of provincial output in 2024, with rice, corn, coconut and banana among the main crops.

Basilan

Only part of Basilan island is in BARMM. Isabela City voted against joining in 2019 (22,441 no to 19,032 yes) and stayed out, so BARMM’s share of Basilan had 541,947 people in 2024. Lamitan is the province’s city within BARMM. Agriculture is the largest sector, at 37.9% of provincial output in 2024, and local plans focus on rubber processing.

Tawi-Tawi

Tawi-Tawi was separated from Sulu in 1973 by Presidential Decree No. 302. Its capital is the municipality of Bongao (131,887 people in 2024). The province is the country’s top seaweed producer, and fishing and seaweed farming support livelihoods across its island towns.

Special Geographic Area

The SGA is made up of 63 barangays in Cotabato province that joined BARMM through the February 2019 plebiscite. In a plebiscite on April 13, 2024, voters approved grouping these barangays into eight new municipalities: Pahamuddin, Kadayangan, Nabalawag, Old Kaabakan, Kapalawan, Malidegao, Tugunan and Ligawasan. The area had 214,703 residents in 2024.

Economy

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show BARMM’s economy grew 5.0% in 2025 to PHP 266.59 billion at constant 2018 prices. That was the sixth-fastest growth among the 18 regions and above the national rate of 4.4%. The fastest-growing sectors were health and social work (13.9%), education (12%) and public administration (9.6%), while agriculture, forestry and fishing grew 4.9%.

The BARMM finance ministry’s breakdown of 2024 output for the five provinces (excluding Sulu) puts their combined output at PHP 252.63 billion. Services, led by trade, public administration, education and health, made up more than half. Farming and fishing remain central to jobs and food supply, especially in Maguindanao del Sur and the island provinces.

What has changed since 2023

• Sulu left BARMM. On September 9, 2024 the Supreme Court upheld the Bangsamoro Organic Law but ruled that Sulu is not part of the region, because Sulu voters rejected the law in 2019. The Court denied all motions for reconsideration on November 26, 2024. Executive Order No. 91, signed on July 30, 2025, placed Sulu in Region IX, covered in the Zamboanga Peninsula guide.
• Eight new towns in the SGA. Voters ratified the eight SGA municipalities on April 13, 2024.
• 2024 census results. Proclamation No. 973 (July 11, 2025) made the 2024 census official, replacing the 2020 figures used in the old guide.
• First parliamentary election. BARMM held its first parliamentary election on September 14, 2026. On October 30, 2026 the new parliament elected Abdulraof Macacua as chief minister by 51 votes to 27, ending the interim government that had run the region since 2019.
• New seat of government. On August 13, 2026 the regional government broke ground on a PHP 15-billion government center on a 214-hectare site in Barangay Landasan, Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, under Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 37. The seat will move there from Cotabato City.
• The split of Maguindanao into Maguindanao del Norte and del Sur dates from the September 17, 2022 plebiscite.

Property in Bangsamoro

BARMM’s population grew faster than any other region’s between 2020 and 2024; within today’s territory, Lanao del Sur added the most people (172,619). For buyers, the main practical points are:

• Location. The regional government is moving from Cotabato City to Parang over the coming years. The groundbreaking has happened, but no completion date has been announced.
• Ownership rules. National property law applies. Under Article XII of the Constitution, private land can only be transferred to buyers qualified to own land, apart from inheritance. Natural-born Filipinos who have lost their citizenship may still acquire private land within legal limits.
• Listings. Lionunion collects properties in the region on its Bangsamoro listings page. For nearby markets, see the Lanao del Norte guide and the Iligan listings, or the Caraga guide.

To see what is currently available, browse our Bangsamoro listings or contact Lionunion for help with your search.