Persons deprived of liberty registered to vote for the national elections last year during the Comelec's satellite registration. (Photo courtesy of BJMP Dagupan's Facebook page)
DAGUPAN CITY -- More than 600 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) here will vote for candidates running for national office in the May 13 elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.
In a media forum on Thursday, city election officer, lawyer Michael Sarmiento, said the PDLs at BJMP-Dagupan are still allowed to exercise their right of suffrage based on the country’s Constitution.
PDLs refer to persons accused of crimes, who are undergoing trial and staying at the BJMP, while their cases have not yet been decided. They used to be called inmates or detainees.
Sarmiento noted that instead of the PDLs being escorted to vote in their respective voting precincts, special electoral boards will be assigned to get their ballots from the polling precincts and bring them to the BJMP.
“The special electoral boards will verify where the precincts of the PDLs are and they will bring (the ballots) to BJMP on the same day of elections, and then return (them) to the PDLs’ polling precinct sealed. The board of election inspector of that precinct will insert (them) to the vote counting machine,” he said.
Sarmiento said the PDLs are only allowed to vote for candidates vying for national office but if they vote for local positions, the ballots will be directly sent to the Comelec’s central office where they will be counted manually.
"There is no law prohibiting the PDLs to vote for local positions but the Supreme Court (SC) issued a temporary restraining order in 2015, prohibiting them from doing so because of a case filed, contesting their right to vote for local positions. Hence, they are also not allowed to vote in barangay elections," Sarmiento said.
Dagupan City has a total of 119,164 voters for next month’s election. (PNA)
