PNP chief Marbil wants May 2025 elections to be ‘safest’
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) aims for the 2025 midterm polls to be the “safest” elections, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Marbil said.
The remark came as the PNP promised to crack down on violence due to intense political rivalries, private armed groups, loose firearms, and other election-related risks with less than 100 days left until the May 12 polls.
LOOK: The PNP vows to crack down on violence due to intense political rivalries, private armed groups, loose firearms and other election-related risks with less than 100 days left until the May 12 polls.
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“[W]e want to make sure that 2025 will be the safest election,” Marbil said at a ceremony in Camp Crame on Wednesday, marking the police force’s operational activities for the national and local elections (NLE).
“[We want] to remind our people that this election is not only [about] us but all of us, religious sector, our community. It is a shared accountability for a fair election,” the PNP chief added.
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To curb violence amid the polls, the police said it would intensify operations at Comelec checkpoints, implement a “revitalized Oplan Katok” initiative, deploy quick reaction teams, and assess threats to all candidates.
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According to PNP data shown on Wednesday, there were 60 election-related incidents in the May 2019 NLE; 27 during the May 2022 NLE; and 105 during the October 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).
As of Feb. 3, the PNP validated one of three suspected election-related incidents so far for the 2025 NLE.
READ: PNP: 1 validated poll-related incident, so far
The PNP and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) pledged a peaceful conduct of the 2025 NLE, along with the following agencies and groups:
- Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
- Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
- Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)
- Department of Education (DepEd)
- Department of Transportation (DOTr)
- Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV)
- National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)
- Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)
For the armed forces’ part, AFP chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said they “are deputized by [the] Comelec to assist in the national elections.”
“The police are on the frontlines, but the Armed Forces of the Philippines will help in terms of making sure that our polling centers are secure. We will also help in eradicating private armed groups,” Brawner said in Filipino in a chance interview in Camp Crame on Wednesday.
READ: Police units ordered to dismantle private armies by March
Marbil previously ordered the police units to dismantle PAGs by the end of March 2025.