ELECTION SECURITY | COMELEC pledges stronger security measures in next barangay, SK elections

October 30, 2023 , 09:23 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(October 30, 2023) – The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) on Monday vowed to further strengthen security measures in the next Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in 2025 to prevent further incidents of poll-related violence.

COMELEC spokesman Rex Laudiangco said the election day nationwide was “generally peaceful” despite some incidents of violence in some parts of the country.

He lauded the police and the military for promptly responding to incidents during the election day.

“Mas papaigtingin pa po natin ito para hindi lang nung nakahuli (ng perpetrators), kung hindi maging deterrent po mismo sa mga gagawa pa ng mga ganitong karahasan,” Laudiangco said on CignalTV’s One PH channel’s program “Sa Totoo Lang.”

Millions of Filipino voters have cast their votes between more than a million candidates for 672,000 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) posts across 42,000 barangays nationwide.

From the start of the election period, there were 35 confirmed election-related incidents. Some 191 more incidents during the period are still under verification.

In the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), authorities reported six shooting incidents, all which have killed five people and injured 11 in the southern Philippine region on election day. Authorities are still looking into whether the incidents were election-related.

In the island province of Basilan, a shooting incident killed a reelectionist barangay kagawad and a Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) member in Barangay Luksumbang, Lamitan City shortly before elections closed, based on a report from the Council for Climate and Conflict Action Asia.

There were also around 1,200 teachers who backed out of poll duty in parts of the BARMM region due to safety concerns, prompting police officers to substitute for them.

Nationwide, no failure of elections were so far declared, said the national police chief, General Benjamin Acorda Jr.

“The good thing is some of the incidents, or majority of the incidents that transpired, nakaresponde agad ang ating kapulisan. Napacify ang ating mga polling precinct and nagtuloy,” Acorda told reporters.

(MM | With reports from Bryan Castillo, News5)

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