By Thea Alberto
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–At least 43 cases of election-related violent incidents were listed by the Philippine National Police, with at least 23 persons killed and 20 others wounded as of 9 a.m. Monday.

The updated tally showed that five of those killed were candidates for the village chief post while two were running as village councilors. Seven of those killed were incumbent village officials, according to the tally.

Meanwhile, four of those wounded were village chief candidates.

Chief Superintendent Silverio Alarcio, head of the Directorate for Operations, said this year’s village elections were less violent compared to the one in 2002, when his office listed a total of 159 cases.

Alarcio added however that the present number might still increase.

“This is because 30 percent of the cases in the 2002 elections happened on Election Day itself,” said Alarcio.