Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 30) — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday said it recorded 29 poll-related killings during the recently-concluded Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).
They form part of the 331 election-related incidents which the PNP logged during the BSKE period from Aug. 28 to Nov. 29.
The PNP said the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao had the highest validated election-related incidents with 57.
It added that the nationwide tally includes cases that resulted in the injury of 100 people.
Meanwhile, 2,672 people were arrested for violating the gun ban — more than the 1,509 individuals apprehended in 2018.
Despite these crimes, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo described the elections as “generally peaceful.”
“This was also the statement made by the Comelec (Commission on Elections) chair, si honorable George Garcia, because kahit may mga naitala po tayong insidente nationwide ay wala naman po tayong naitala na any failure of election sa anumang lugar dito sa ating bansa,” she said.
[Translation: This was also the statement made by Comelec chair George Garcia, because even if such incidents were recorded nationwide, there was no failure of election in any part of the country.]
