The Philippine National Police on Monday said that 70 percent of the 357 "areas of grave concern" for the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections slated on 30 October are mostly from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the areas belong to the red category of the election hotspot list and disclosed that the PNP and the military would convene the National Joint Security Control Center soon to reconcile their records regarding the election hotspot list.

She added that the JNSCC would then submit its recommendation on the hotspot list to the Commission on Elections en banc for final approval.

Meanwhile, Fajardo said only eight out of a total of 71 incidents reported to the PNP have been validated as election related incidents, adding that another 18 are under investigation while the rest were confirmed as non-ERIs.

Fajardo also said that as of Sunday there were 912 firearms have been confiscated at checkpoints while 1,208 persons were arrested since the start of the election gun ban on 28 August.

She said they have also deposited 1,692 firearms for safekeeping while 731 firearms with expired licenses have been surrendered to the PNP.