Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 2) — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) eyes increasing the security personnel who will be deployed to “clash points” in the 2025 polls amid “unexpected” violence in the recent village and youth elections.
“For 2025 elections, we really have to improve on the security implementation,” Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco told CNN Philippines’ Politics As Usual on Wednesday.
The “clash points,” also known as Comelec’s areas of concern, are categorized as green, yellow, orange, and red.
While there were “sufficient numbers of police and military personnel” deployed to clash points during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE), Laudiangco said the extent of election-related violence was unexpected.
“The clash points like in Puerto Princesa, we really did not expect that, because Puerto Princesa City is not in the red category, neither in the orange category, it’s actually in the green category,” the Comelec official said.
Supporters of a candidate in Barangay Kalipay barged in a clustered precinct and tore up hundreds of unused ballots, prompting the Comelec to suspend activities for several hours.
Comelec said the elections were generally peaceful even as pockets of violence marred the polls.
