section_path: Issues/Election-related incidents
section_name: Election-related incidents
paragraph_text: Election-related incidents
  
  The Philippine National Police officially recorded 100 election-related incidents since January 2025, with 20 deaths occurring as a result. The highest number of incidents were recorded in the Cordillera Administrative Region, with 11 cases, and Bangsamoro, with eight cases. As of May 11, 2025, COMELEC has also recorded more than 600 cases of vote-buying.
  
  On October 8, 2024, clashes between supporters of rival politicians on the last day of candidate registration in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur left a barangay watchman dead and six people injured, one of them critically. That same day, an attempt was made to steal a certificate of candidacy at a COMELEC office in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental.
  
  On October 19, a candidate for councilor in Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, was shot dead in an ambush by unidentified suspects that also injured his wife. On November 17, a candidate for vice mayor was shot dead in Tantangan, South Cotabato. On November 23, the assistant COMELEC officer for Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, was shot dead, followed on November 26 by the acting COMELEC officer for Nunungan, Lanao del Norte. On December 7, Ponciano Onia Jr., a reelectionist councilor of Umingan, Pangasinan, and concurrent national president of Abono Partylist, was shot dead in an ambush. On December 19, a reelectionist councilor was shot dead in Piñan, Zamboanga del Norte. On December 21, the provincial election supervisor of Sulu survived an ambush that killed his brother in Zamboanga City. On December 25, a petitioner who complained about the presence of flying voters was shot dead in Pualas, Lanao del Sur. A subsequent judicial investigation found that 1,750 names on the town's voter rolls were fraudulent.
  
  On January 18, 2025, a candidate for councilor in Northern Kabuntalan, Maguindanao del Norte, was shot dead in Midsayap, Cotabato. On January 25, a reelectionist municipal councilor of Caoayan, Ilocos Sur was shot dead in Vigan. On February 4, Anwar Saluwang, the mayor of Nabalawag in the Special Geographic Area of Cotabato, was arrested in Davao City for violating the nationwide gun ban imposed as part of the election. On February 11, a vice mayoral candidate of Buluan, Maguindanao del Sur, survived an ambush on his vehicle. That same day, three people were arrested for trying to extort ₱90 million (US$ 1.83 million) from two municipal candidates in Enrile, Cagayan by claiming to be COMELEC-connected IT specialists who could rig the election results in their favor. On February 24, Omar Samama, the reelectionist vice mayor of Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, was shot and injured while speaking at an event. That same day, the convoy of a mayoral candidate of Pidigan, Abra, was ambushed in Pilar, killing two people, including a barangay chairman. On March 26, the COMELEC officer for Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, was killed in an ambush along with her husband, prompting COMELEC to place the municipality under its control on April 4.
  
  On April 7, a candidate for municipal councilor in Lagangilang, Abra, shot dead a barangay chairman during a dispute with a rival candidate before being shot dead himself by an unidentified individual. On April 10, Kerwin Espinosa, a mayoral candidate of Albuera, Leyte, who had previously admitted to being a drug trafficker, was shot and injured along with his running-mate for vice mayor and a bystander while at a campaign rally. The next day, suspected explosive materials were discovered abandoned at his campaign headquarters. On April 13, Datu Omar Baba, a reelectionist candidate for the provincial board of Maguindanao del Sur was injured along with his driver in an ambush in Datu Anggal Midtimbang. On April 15, the town of Buluan in Maguindanao del Sur, was placed under COMELEC control due to continuing violence, including an incident where grenades were thrown at the municipal hall.
  
  On April 21, a shootout between the convoys of a mayoral candidate in Tayum, Abra, and a barangay kagawad left one person dead and another injured. On April 23, Joel Ruma, the reelectionist mayor of Rizal, Cagayan, was shot dead by a suspected sniper while campaigning, with three people injured in the same incident. On April 26, a candidate for councilor in San Pablo, Isabela, was shot and injured along with two companions in an ambush. On April 28, Leninsky Bacud, a nominee of Ang Bumbero ng Pilipinas party-list, was shot dead in an ambush in Sampaloc, Manila. On April 30, a campaign coordinator of a municipal candidate was killed in a shooting in Badian, Cebu.
  
  On May 4, a grenade attack was carried out on the residence in Buluan of Maguindanao del Sur vice gubernatorial candidate Hisham Nando, who was campaigning elsewhere at the time. On May 5, three people were arrested for impersonating COMELEC personnel and attempting to gain access to voting machines at a school in Santa Cruz, Laguna. On May 7, the testing of voting machines at a polling station in Alicia, Zamboanga Sibugay was interrupted following a shootout between soldiers and unidentified gunmen that left one person dead. On May 8, police accused demonstrators of detonating an improvised smoke grenade during a protest against vote-buying at a government office in Calamba, Laguna. On May 10, a crowd crush at a reported payout for poll watchers in Zamboanga City left two people dead. A candidate for councilor and a student died in a clash in Pandag, Maguindanao del Sur. On May 11, four people were killed in clashes between supporters of rival mayoral candidates in Hadji Mohammad Ajul, Basilan, while four others were injured in a shootout between supporters of rival political parties in Cotabato City. Eleven people were arrested for trying to smuggle P441 million to the Mactan–Cebu International Airport for vote buying.
  
  On polling day, clashes broke out in Marawi between supporters of rival candidates, while a poll watcher poured water on a vote-counting machine. In Silay, Negros Occidental, two supporters of reelectionist mayor Joedith Gallego were killed while five others were injured in a shooting near a campaign area. Two people were injured after gunmen opened fire near a polling station in Bangued, Abra. One person was killed in clashes between rival political groups in Dinas, Zamboanga del Sur. Voting was delayed in Datu Odin Sinsuat after voters protested against the local election boards and barricaded the municipal hall. Two people, a councilor candidate and his sibling, an incumbent barangay chairman were killed in Bayang, Lanao del Sur. Three supporters of a mayoral candidate in Hadji Muhtamad, Basilan, were killed in a shootout with police. Two poll watchers were removed in Abra after a video went viral of them shading ballots for senior citizens. More than 50 people queuing to vote were stung by bees from a hive that fell from a tree at a polling station in Bacolod.
  
  On May 28, a newly-elected councilor of Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur was shot dead near his residence.