The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said there are fewer election-related violence (ERVs) reported in the May 2025 midterm polls as compared to the last two national and local elections.

In a press conference, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said there are lower number of ERVs compared to the 128 cases in 2019 and 120 cases in 2022.

"When it comes to election-related violence, more or less, we have 44. It's still the lowest in the three elections we have," said Garcia.

Comelec convened as the National Board of Elections (NBOC) on Monday.

Garcia led the seven-man NBOC in a ceremony held at the Manila Hotel.

The session began with the appearance of lawyers of senatorial candidates and party lists. It was followed with the initialization of the Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS).

In a speech, Garcia said that the beginning of canvassing "is not just a plain and simple canvassing of votes this is the canvassing of the nation's will".

"We're not just looking at the ballots but at the soul of our democracy", Garcia said.

The session ended after members of the NBOC signed a printed copy of the CCS that shows there were still no results transmitted for senatorial and party list for transparency. It was later shown to the lawyers and watchers.

The session will resume at 10 am on Tuesday. Marie Manalili/DMS