FOUR more persons were killed, bringing to 14 the number of fatalities in election-related incidents nationwide since the start of the election period on January 13.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Colonel Bernard Banac said that as of Thursday, May 9, the number of election-related incidents has increased to 33 based on data gathered by the National Election Monitoring Action Center (Nemac).
A total of 60 persons were involved in these incidents, he said. Of the 60, 14 were killed, 22 were hurt and 24 were unharmed.
Of the 33 incidents, Banac said 21 were shooting incidents.
Meanwhile, he said the PNP has deployed a total of 149,833 police officers for election-related duties before, during and after Election Day on May 13.
Of the total, 75,486 were deployed in voting centers, 11,413 compose the quick reaction teams, 34,388 are at Camp Crame and other police camps nationwide, 2,838 have been trained to replace teachers as Board of Election Inspectors, 4,566 are assigned at canvassing centers, 6,083 are at Nemac and regional monitoring centers, 1,923 are securing Commission on Elections (Comelec) warehouses and other warehouses, and 13,133 are assigned at checkpoints and crowd control.
Banac said that as part of the task force against vote buying, the police are also actively monitoring vote-buying incidents.
"So far, 10 have been arrested and charged in Cavite. Two persons were also arrested in Quezon City," he said.
The police will also implement a 48-hour liquor ban starting 12:01 a.m. of May 12 as part of the security measures to ensure peace and order during the midterm National and Local Elections on May 13. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)