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Four people killed in barangay, SK elections

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Cecil Morella and Pam Castro, Agence France-Presse 

<p>MANILA — At least four people were killed in the restive southern Philippines on Monday as millions turned out to vote for village leaders following months of deadly poll-related violence.</p><p>Security forces were on high alert across the country for the long-delayed nationwide vote for more than 336,000 council positions.</p><p>While villages are the lowest-level government unit, the council posts are hotly contested because they are used by political parties to cultivate grassroots networks and build a support base for local and general elections.</p><p>More than 300,000 police officers and soldiers were deployed to secure polling stations in over 42,000 villages.</p><p>In the capital Manila, voters waited in long lines to cast their ballots at schools being used as polling venues.</p><p>&quot;This is important for the people... we need to be able to consult someone over our problems,&quot; said Rosemarie Garcia in the hardscrabble neighborhood of Tondo.</p><p>&quot;We need somebody who is easily approachable to his or her constituents.&quot;</p><p>Elections are a traditionally volatile time in the Philippines, which has lax gun laws and a violent political culture.</p><p>Commission on Elections chairman George Garcia said voting had been &quot;<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/30/23/bske-2023-generally-peaceful-ppcrv">generally peaceful</a>&quot; except for several incidents on the southern island of Mindanao. </p><p>Two people were killed and five others were wounded outside a polling station in Maguindanao del Norte province, police said.</p><p>The shootout happened during a confrontation between supporters of rival candidates for village captain, said Datu Odin Sinsuat municipality police chief Lieutenant-Colonel Esmail Madin.</p><p>In another incident on Mindanao, a woman was killed when a gunfight broke out after a van carrying a village captain and her supporters was stopped on a road by people backing her rival in Lanao del Norte province, the army said.</p><p>The husband of a village captain in Lanao del Sur province died after he was shot in the chest during a confrontation with his wife&#x27;s rival, police said.</p><p>In 2009, before it was divided into two provinces, Maguindanao was the scene of the country&#x27;s deadliest single incident of political violence on record.</p><p>Fifty-eight people were massacred as gunmen allegedly working for a local warlord attacked a group of people to stop a rival from filing his election candidacy.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/23/19/maguindanao-massacre-quest-for-justice-in-sight-but-still-out-of-reach">Maguindanao massacre: Quest for justice in sight but still out of reach</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A9L_C-HbphU?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><strong>&#x27;VERY IMPORTANT&#x27; RESULT </strong></div><p>In the run-up to Monday&#x27;s vote, there were 30 confirmed incidents of election-related violence, compared with 35 in 2018, the Philippine National Police said Sunday, without providing an updated breakdown for the number of dead and injured.</p><p>About one-third of the incidents happened in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.</p><p>Previous police data showed eight people were killed and seven injured in poll-related violence between August 28 and October 25.</p><p>More than 67 million people were registered to vote in the elections, which President Ferdinand Marcos described Monday as &quot;very important&quot; for higher-level politicians.</p><p>&quot;What happens here in the barangay (village)... are going to have an effect on the results of the mid-term elections and subsequently at the national elections,&quot; Marcos said after casting his vote in his family&#x27;s stronghold of Batac City in the northern province of Ilocos Norte.</p><p>&quot;If other barangays tell you &#x27;I will deliver 350 votes for you in my barangay&#x27;, rest assured, you will get 350. That&#x27;s why the result is very important.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/30/23/bske-results-crucial-to-politicians-in-natl-level-marcos-jr">BSKE results &#x27;crucial&#x27; to politicians in nat&#x27;l level: Marcos Jr</a></li></ul><p>Polling stations were due to close at 3:00 p.m., but voting was extended in some places.</p><p>Vote counting was underway and results would be announced late Monday, said Garcia.</p><p>Voters chose a village captain and seven councillors responsible for implementing national policies, resolving neighborhood disputes and providing basic public services.</p><p>Village councils also enable politicians to &quot;disseminate funds and other favors to secure votes&quot;, said Maria Ela Atienza, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines.</p><p>Village elections are supposed to be held every three years, but the last vote was in 2018.</p><p>They were postponed by former president Rodrigo Duterte and then his successor Marcos on the grounds the government could not afford them.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qvq_GHcLov8?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Two people were killed and at least three were wounded in a shooting incident in Maguindanao del Norte early Monday, Election Day, police said.

Four people killed in barangay, SK elections

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Four people killed in barangay, SK elections

Cecil Morella and Pam Castro,

Agence France-Presse

Published Oct 30, 2023 09:14 AM PHT

|

Updated Oct 30, 2023 05:15 PM PHT

Read More:

election

polls

BSKE

barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections

barangay elections

SK elections

BSKE 2023

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