By: Reigh John Bench Almendras
Photo Courtesy: Philippine News Agency.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared the campaign period for the 2025 National and Local Elections "generally peaceful" despite reported incidents of violence leading up to the May 12 polls.
However, Comelec Chairman George Garcia acknowledged "red category" areas and expressed concern over recent violent incidents, including thirteen validated election-related fatalities reported by the Philippine National Police (PNP).
"We expressed our concern about these incidents to high-ranking Camp Crame officials," Garcia stated.
"We have deployed additional police and military personnel from peaceful areas to those experiencing unrest," he added.
With eleven days remaining, the Comelec is also addressing 242 alleged vote-buying cases and issuing show cause orders to candidates for discriminatory campaign remarks.
Garcia urged candidates to focus on national and local issues rather than personal attacks.
"Frankly, this isn't what we should be focused on at Comelec. We should be concentrating on preparations and vote-buying cases. Yet, we're acting like the MTRCB, policing morality and the conduct of candidates during the campaign," Garcia shared.
In the meantime, the Comelec will conduct the final testing and sealing of vote-counting machines from May 2 to May 7.
The Comelec has also distributed approximately 76 percent of voters’ information sheets and deployed around 95 percent of Starlink satellite transmission devices across the country in preparation for May 12.