All private armed groups in the country should be neutralized before the 2025 national and local elections, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Garcia said.
This, as newly-appointed Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla earlier ordered the police force in Central Luzon to dismantle the private armed groups that may compromise peace and stability in the region, GMA News reported.
“Private armies really should be dismantled not only in certain areas but all over the Philippines,” Garcia, in a Super Radyo dzBB interview, said.
Reports said violence against politicians reached its height under the Duterte administration, averaging around 90.2 killings annually from 2016–2022 compared to 43.75 under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and 54.34 under President Benigno Aquino III, according to a 2023 study by a Philippine Navy analyst.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) officials still estimate that as many as 155 private armed groups operate across the Philippines. This is lower than the 558 monitored active in 1993, the study said.
For Garcia, the voters’ free will remains a priority, stressing that people should not be coerced to vote for a particular candidate.
“How can the voters reflect their true sentiments if they are voting out of fear or because they were forced? That shouldn’t be the case. Voting should be voluntary in the will and thoughts of our countrymen,” Garcia said.
The campaign period for senatorial candidates and party-list groups is set from February 11 to March 10, 2025. Meanwhile, the campaign period for candidates for the House of Representatives and parliamentary, provincial, city, and municipal elections will be from March 28 to May 10.
Election day is scheduled on May 12, but overseas voters may cast their votes as early as April 13, while local absentee voters may cast their votes from April 28 to 30.
The BARMM parliamentary polls will also be conducted next year.
