PNP records 18 poll-related violence as voting day nears
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MANILA, Philippines — Eighteen of the 88 violent incidents recorded from Aug. 12 to Oct. 18 were found to be related to the Oct. 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported on Wednesday.
“We have 88 recorded incidents, 18 are validated election-related incidents, 63 are non-election-related incidents, and seven remain on the list of suspected-election-related incidents,” the PNP spokesperson, Col. Jean Fajardo, told reporters in Filipino.
Of the validated figure, 12 were shootings, two were kidnappings, and one each that involved grave threat, indiscriminate firing, violation of the gun ban, and a police operation that resulted in an armed encounter.
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Broken down, most of these cases occurred in the following areas:
- five in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
- three in Northern Mindanao
- three in Eastern Visayas
- two in Calabarzon (Region 4A which is composed of Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Quezon)
- two in the Bicol Region
- one in Ilocos Region
- one in Central Visayas
Fajardo revealed that eight of these cases were under investigation, two were already filed in court, and two cases already had identified suspects.
Although there was an increase in the number of poll-related violence, the PNP spokesperson said that the number of areas of concern — out of a total of 42,001 — remained the same:
- 356 barangays under the red category (areas of grave concern)
- 1,325 under the orange category
- 1,196 under the yellow category
