The Philippine National Police (PNP) recorded 46 validated election-related incidents (ERIs) from the start of the 2025 election period on January 12 to Election Day on May 12. The Cordillera Administrative Region topped the list with 13 ERIs, followed by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with eight.
This year’s tally is higher than the 27 ERIs in the 2022 elections but lower than the 105 incidents recorded during the 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls. Despite the incidents, the PNP declared the midterm elections as “generally peaceful, secure, and orderly.”
Col. Randulf Tuaño, chief of the PNP Public Information Office, emphasized that these were isolated cases and did not result in any postponement or failure of elections. As of May 12, 82 more incidents are still being validated to determine if they were election-related.
The recorded incidents include five shootings, four firearms violations, three explosions, two maulings, two armed encounters, and several cases involving interference with automated counting machines, ballot photography, and illegal campaigning, among others.
PNP Chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil reaffirmed the peaceful conduct of the elections, stressing the importance of removing lawbreakers. “There is no room for trouble in the elections. We want arrests, and we want peace,” he said.