COMMISSION on Elections Chairperson George Garcia said Monday the conduct of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) 2023 was ”a victory of sorts” despite reports of violence and teachers backing out of their poll duties.

Giving his assessment after the eight-hour voting, Garcia said there was no ”perfect election.”

“Even if there were disruptions in 2,000 precincts, we would still have 200,000 precincts where voting proceeded as expected. There was only a small percentage where disruption occurred. To us, it is a victory of sorts,” he said at a press briefing.

During the day, the Comelec received reports of election-related violence in BARMM, teachers withdrawing from poll tasks, and the tearing of ballots in Palawan, among others.

No vote-buying incidents were reported on election day, the poll body said. 

Millions of Filipinos went to the polls to choose the next set of barangay and SK leaders, the first to be held in five years and after two postponements.

The next BSKE will take place in December 2025.