PNP: COC filing ‘relatively peaceful’, checking Shariff Aguak shooting incident

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday said the filing of certificate of candidacy (COC) for the 2025 elections has been relatively peaceful.

However, PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Jean Fajardo said that she will check a reported shooting incident in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur.

“So far, again, awa ng Diyos, relatively peaceful nationwide ang pag-file ng candidacy dahil wala naman tayong naitala na any related incident that would somehow influence ang nangyayari ng filing ng candidacy,” she said.

(So far, again, by the grace of God, the filing of candidacies has been relatively peaceful nationwide because we have not recorded any related incident that would somehow influence the filing of the candidacy.)

“Nandiyan ang katuwang natin sa pagbabantay, mga kasamahan natin sa media, ating mga Comelec officers na hanggang mag-close ang mga Comelec offices. Ngayong araw ay wala pang nangyayari anumang incident o sigalot,” she added.

(Our partners, our colleagues in the media, our Comelec officers are monitoring until the Comelec offices close. Today there has been no incident or conflict.)

Asked about the reports of alleged shooting in Shariff Aguak, Fajardo said, “We will check on that report. This is the first time I heard that report. I have to validate it.”

In a series of Facebook livestreams from the Shariff Aguak Municipal Police and other sources, cops can be seen deployed on the streets amid reported shooting.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson George Garcia said that there was no cancellation of COC filing because a satellite venue was established.

“Wala po cancellation. Nag-create lang po tayo kaagad ng satellite venue ng filing (There is no cancellation. We just immediately created a satellite venue for the filing),” he told reporters in a message.

A total of 18,280 elective posts will be up for grabs for Eleksyon 2025. The filing of COCs has started on October 1 and is set to close on Oct.8, Tuesday.  —RF, GMA Integrated News