Philippine police said on Sunday that the country’s overall situation ahead of the May 9 general election remained peaceful despite some isolated gunshot events and other poll-related violations.
Filipinos will vote on Monday to elect a successor to President Rodrigo Duterte, a vice president, 12 senators, hundreds of congressmen, and thousands of governors, mayors, and provincial and municipal councils.
The presidential race is shaping up to be a rematch between Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the late dictator’s son and namesake, and incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo, a human rights lawyer who narrowly defeated him in the 2016 vice-presidential election.
Three months of divisive campaigning ended on Saturday, with Marcos and Robredo making last-ditch bids to sway undecided voters with patriotic, upbeat messages.
“One day before the conduct of the actual election, we are considering our preparation and the situation as relatively peaceful,” Philippine National Police Spokesperson Jean Fajardo said in a media briefing.
The police have recorded 16 election-related offenses since the campaign season began, including two cases of shooting incidents between supporters of rival local candidates in Nueva Ecija and Ilocos Sur provinces, she said.
“These are good indicators, these are good numbers,” Fajardo said, comparing the police data with the 133 recorded cases during the 2016 general election and the 60 recorded cases during the 2019 mid-term polls.
The police have also recorded more than 3,000 arrests related to the election ban on the carrying of firearms, also substantially lower because of what Fajardo described as an intensive campaign to confiscate loose firearms that could be used by private armed groups.
Saturday’s final campaign push ended without Duterte endorsing any presidential candidate, but his political party is backing Marcos and Duterte’s daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, who is Marcos’s running mate.
Both remained comfortably ahead of their rivals, based on opinion polls.
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