The Philippine police and military said on Sunday they were on high alert as last-minute preparations for the country’s general election continued, even as the overall situation remained “relatively peaceful”.
Filipinos on Monday voted to elect President Rodrigo Duterte’s successor, a vice president, 12 senators, hundreds of congressmen and thousands of governors, mayors and provincial and city councillors.
The presidential race is a rematch between Nam Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the son of the country’s late dictator and Nam Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., and human rights lawyer Lenny Robredo, who narrowly defeated him in the 2016 vice-presidential election.
three months of divisive propaganda Ended on Saturday, Mr Marcos and Ms Robredo made a final bid to impress undecided voters with patriotic, upbeat messages.
Mr Duterte did not endorse the presidential candidate, but his party supports Mr Marcos and his running mate, Sarah Duterte-Carpio, daughter of Mr Duterte.
“We are prepared for any contingency,” the chief of the armed forces, Lieutenant General Andres Santino, told a media briefing.
“We are committed to ensuring safe, accurate, free and fair elections tomorrow…”
Political violence, allegations of fraud and vote-buying affected previous elections in the Philippines. But police said they had registered far fewer election-related offenses than in the 2016 general election and the 2019 mid-term elections.
“Hopefully we can keep this peace until the last day of our election process,” Danao said.
Philippine National Police spokesman Jean Fajardo told another briefing that the pre-election situation was “relatively peaceful”, with 16 election-related crimes, including shootings in Nueva Esija and Ilocos Sur provinces.