The Philippine National Police (PNP) said the first day of the campaign period for the Barangay and Sannguniang Kabataan election that kicked off last Friday was "generally peaceful".

“The first day of the campaign period for the Barangay and SK Elections is generally peaceful with no significant election campaign related incident recorded,” said Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, PNP spokesman, on Saturday.

“To maintain this favorable situation, the PNP continuously monitors the barangays categorized as hotspots or those where violence are likely to occur due to intense political rivalry with history of violence and presence of armed and threat groups,” he said.

“With all security forces on alert, the PNP remains on top of the situation,” he added.

The two-week campaign period will run until May 12, while the election will be held on May 14, 2018.

The PNP has so far recorded 20 fatalities from the 15 violent incidents allegedly related to the election period that was monitored since April 14 up to May 1, 2018. Robina Asido/DMS