THE PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) said 10 people were killed in 22 election-related incidents from January 13 to April 30.
PNP spokesperson Colonel Bernard Banac said on Friday, May 3, that there were fewer election-related incidents this year.
“(The number of) 22 incidents is very low, compared to the 106 incidents of same campaign period in 2016,” Banac said.
Nine of the fatalities were either a candidate or a political supporter.
He said an incident involving an election candidate or their supporters are automatically considered as election-related particularly if it happened during the election period.
This year, the election period is from January 13 to June 12. Election Day is on May 13.
Banac said the incidents were still under investigation and were considered as homicide cases.
“Well, ito naman (election-related incidents) ay distributed naman sa iba't ibang bahagi ng bansa. Wala namang specific na concentration. Lahat ng region natin ay may insidente na naitala, isa or dalawa. Distributed siya hindi natin masasabi na may concentration sa isang lugar,” said Banac.
(The incidents occurred nationwide. There is no specific concentration of incidents in one area. All regions recorded one or two election-related incidents.)
The PNP will deploy at least 160,000 personnel to maintain peace and order before, during and after the May 13 elections.
A total of 941 areas have been identified as election hotspots.
Of the total, 131 towns and cities were placed under category yellow, 238 are classified as areas of immediate concern or under category orange, 570 are categorized as areas of grave concern or category red, and two areas were placed under the control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Cotabato City and Daraga in Albay.
Cotabato City was placed under Comelec control due to series of bombings there while Daraga was flagged after AKO Bicol party list Representative Rodel Batocabe was killed.
Under red category are the entire Mindanao and the following areas: Jones in Isabela, Lope de Vega in Northern Samar and the entire province of Abra. (SunStar Philippines)