Ten people have been killed in outbreaks of violence as millions of Filipinos went to the polls in nationwide elections.
More than 40m Filipinos were expected to turn up at polling stations to elect a successor to President Gloria Arroyo, whose near decade-long rule has been tarnished by allegations of corruption.
50-year-old Noynoy Aquino is the favourite to win the presidency after riding a wave of popular sentiment for his democracy-hero parents.
The latest violent incident took place just outside the capital of Manila where two people were killed and another was seriously wounded in a clash between a congressman's security escorts and police.
Two of the escorts were shot dead after they confronted policemen in Bacoor for detaining some of the congressman's supporters.
'This is one case that has to be thoroughly investigated,' said national police spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina.
Elsewhere, three people were shot dead and ten others wounded when police clashed with supporters of a mayoral candidate in the southern province of Zamboanga Sibugay this morning.
The cause of the clash was unclear but the police were ordered back to their stations, Captain Arnold Gasalatan said, adding that the military had secured the area pending an investigation.
In the southern province of Maguindanao, two men were killed as the armed followers of two rival politicians engaged in a gun battle. One of the dead was identified as a member of an armed group.
In another incident in the south, a cousin of the vice governor in North Cotabato province was shot dead while he was riding on a motorcycle before polls opened.
He and another man on the motorbike were ambushed by suspected gunmen of a rival candidate in Kidapawan town.
In Kapai town, also in the south, the son of a candidate shot a man, according to the provincial police chief.
On the western island of Palawan, a clash between supporters of two rival mayoral candidates left one person dead and another wounded.
