Reported BSKE-related incidents of violence now 264, PNP says

The number of incidents of violence suspected to be connected with the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) climbed to 264, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday.

In a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing, PNP spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said only 47 of these incidents have been confirmed to be related to the elections, 114 are still being validated, and 103 were found to be unrelated.

“Meron na po tayong naitala na 264 na incidents at 47 po diyan ang validated election-related incidents,” she said.

(We have recorded 264 incidents and 47 of those are validated election-related incidents.)

Fajardo added that these confirmed poll-related incidents resulted in 15 deaths while 43 people were injured. 

Most of the confirmed BSKE-related incidents were reported in Bangsamoro with 16 cases, followed by Northern Mindanao with 13, and Cordillera with four.

Three cases were reported each in Ilocos and Eastern Visayas; two each in Bicol and Central Visayas; and one each in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, and Zamboanga.

Most of these incidents involved shooting with 19 cases, physical injury with seven, mauling with four, and kidnapping with three.

Armed confrontation and encounter, indiscriminate firing, fire incidents, robbery, and grave threat were also reported, according to the PNP.

Due to election gun ban violations, the PNP said 2,077 individuals have been arrested and 1,569 firearms have been confiscated.

On election day, two people were killed and at least four others were wounded in a shooting incident in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, shortly before voting for the BSKE 2023 was to start.

BAR regional police chief Police Brigadier General Allan Cruz Nobleza said there was another shooting incident in Maguindanao del Sur.

A candidate for barangay chairperson was also shot in Butig, Lanao del Sur; while six people were wounded including a barangay chairman candidate in Tuburan, Basilan.

Fajardo, meanwhile, said the PNP will continue to provide security on the ground until candidates are proclaimed winners.

On Wednesday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said the 2023 BSKE, which was held on Monday, was officially done after the poll body completed the canvassing of ballots in all 42,001 barangays.

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) found the BSKE "orderly and peaceful" outside the violence that affected some communities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

However, the PPCRV, in an earlier statement, said it observed irregularities in the BSKE, including incidents of fake voters "with some voters arriving to find that others had already voted in their place."

Comelec regional director in BARMM Ray Sumalipao also reported that the BSKE has "concluded successfully, with no evidence of election failures."

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said winning candidates should assume office during a three-week transition period.  —VAL, GMA Integrated News