(Manila) More than 60,000 members of the security forces were on high alert Sunday in the Philippines to protect polling stations on the eve of the presidential election, after the death of four people on Saturday in a shooting linked to the election, according to the police.
Posted at 10:04 a.m.
“Based on our planning […]we are confident that we will have a safe and orderly election,” said armed forces spokesman Colonel Ramon Zagala.
The security deployment involves about 48,000 troops and 16,000 police across the archipelago, officials said.
Four people were killed on Saturday and four injured in a shootout between supporters of rival mayoral candidates in Magsingal, in the northern province of Ilocos Sur, according to police spokesman Roderick Alba.
Police in the northern province of Nueva Ecija also arrested more than 20 people and seized weapons, including five M-16 rifles, a 12-gauge shotgun and 15 handguns, following a shootout between bodyguards of two candidates for mayor of General Tinio, north of Manila. The incident left five people injured, Alba said.
Since January 9, sixteen “election-related incidents” have been recorded, including four shootings and “light illegal detention”, Mr. Alba said, relatively low figures compared to 133 incidents during the 2016 presidential elections and 60 in the 2019 midterm elections.
Elections are a traditionally volatile time in a country with lax gun laws and a violent political culture. The national police considered this season to have been relatively peaceful.
Police spokesman Colonel Jean Fajardo attributed the steep decline to a heightened security presence, as well as military and police operations targeting “free firearms” and private armed groups.
The electoral commission largely bans the carrying of weapons during the election period, which lasts until June 8.
More than 18,000 positions, from the president to the municipal councillors, are to be filled during these elections. The son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos should win the presidential election hands down.
Rights groups, Catholic Church leaders and opponents see the elections as a watershed moment for the country’s democracy and fear that Marcos Junior will rule with an iron fist.