MANILA, Philippines?(UPDATE) The May 2010 elections are shaping up as the country's most violent yet, a spokesman for the Commission on Elections said Wednesday.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the Comelec leadership was concerned about news of intensified violence against candidates and their supporters a month ahead of the nationwide balloting on May 10.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, Jimenez said, ?It looks like there are more ERVIs (election-related violent incidents) in these elections and we want to know why.?

The Philippine National Police said 567 municipalities?a third of the country's 1,600 municipalities? have witnessed some form of election violence since the election period started last January.

The figure was higher than the previous record. In the 2007 mid-term elections, the PNP and Comelec identified 307 election hotspots.

The Consortium for Electoral Reforms, meanwhile, said it monitored 39 incidents of election-related violence nationwide from the start of the year to March 25.

The PNP also noted the proliferation of private armies, now numbering 112, despite government efforts to neutralize them. The police, in past reports to the Comelec, said private armies were employed by politicians to harass their opponents in the local contests.

Jimenez also noted that media reports show intensified attacks against candidates and supporters in the run-up to May 10.

The commission, he said, was concerned over the mounting violence could not just put a town or city under its control on the basis of local leaders? claims.

Some local politicians can use Comelec control to suppress dissent in their towns or oppress their opponents, he said.

He noted that the police or the military would first have to make an objective assessment of the security situation in an area before the Comelec can move to put any place under its control. Local executives will also have to formalize their request through a petition to the Comelec.

By putting a town or province under its control, the Comelec will have authority over that locality?s law enforcement and local personnel. The measure is intended to stop violent partisan activity.

Recently, local officials from Makati City and Nueva Ecija have asked the Comelec to put their areas under its control following shooting incidents and other forms of harassment.

The Consortium for Electoral Reforms, which is monitoring election violence, identified at least eight provinces as election hot spots. It noted that Davao City, Compostela Valley, Masbate, Sorsogon, Quezon, Mindoro Oriental and Occidental and Negros Oriental, have seen intense violence and strong political clans vying for control.