The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday said that there are 19 deaths and 19 injuries from election-related incidents since the start of the election period of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls on August 28.

In an interview with dzBB, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said that out of the 29 validated election-related incidents, there were 19 fatalities and 19 injured that are verified.

“There are 29 validated election-related incidents resulting into 19 deaths and 19 injuries,” Laudiangco said.

Majority happened in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) with 13 incidents, and resulted in 11 deaths and 14 injured.

"Most of them are in BARMM. The rest are scattered," said Laudiangco.

Others killed were reported in Bicol Region (2), Central Visayas (2), Cordillera Administrative Region (1), Zamboanga Peninsula (1), Ilocos Region (1), Calabarzon (1).

In a separate interview with ANC, Laudiangco said “most of those killed are either supporters or relatives of the candidates.”

Comelec chairman George Garcia said they stand pat in their belief that the elections were ''generally peaceful''.

"When you say generally peaceful and that there are only a few incidents, it would factor in the number of people involved as against the 92 million voters. There are only a few, who were affected," said Garcia in a press briefing. Jaspearl Tan/DMS