Special voting rooms a big help for PWD voters in QC

Forty-seven-year-old Eddie Tubalinal woke up at 4 in the morning on election day. A person with disability (PWD) in Quezon City, he wanted to be at the Corazon Aquino Elementary School to cast his vote when the precincts open at 6 a.m.

Joining Tubalinal to vote was his mother Melchora, 67, who lives just a house away from him and his wife. On the way to the tricycle stop, he walked between his niece and nephew while Melchora ambled nearby.

Tubalinal has difficulty in walking and has been relying on his brother's children to reach the trike stop for some years now, after he was accidentally shot in the knee while working as a waiter in a club more than a decade ago.

"Mahirap kung wala kang pera, walang pamasahe," he said.

Quezon City resident Vicente Valeciado welcomes the Emergency Accessible Polling Place, which allowed PWDs like him, as well as senior citizens and pregnant women, to vote without lining up to their precincts. Photo by Rie Takumi

At the school, Tubalinal was helped by volunteers from St. Augustine and AMA School of Medicine into a wheelchair. Unlike in previous elections where he and his mother had to climb the stairs to the third floor where their precinct was located, this year they were lead to the emergency accessible polling place (APP) located at a classroom across the school's access ramp.

Vicente Valeciado, another PWD, said the APP, which is also for senior citizens and pregnant women, was a welcome addition to this year's elections.

"Gusto ko rin yung ganito kasi maginhawa para sa amin," he said.

The APP was the product of Republic Act No. 10366 or the “An Act Authorizing the Commission on Elections to Establish Precincts Assigned to Accessible Polling Places Exclusively for Persons with Disabilities and Senior Citizens,” which President Benigno Aquino III signed on February 15, 2013.

The act ensures the rights of PWDs and senior citizens to vote “without discrimination or restrictions” by providing APPs or polling places located at the ground floor with no physical barriers, manned by experts trained to assist PWD equipped with assistive materials.

About 4,137 voting centers were designated as APPs by the Comelec for the May 9 national and local elections.

Corazon Aquino Elementary School and San Diego Elementary School each have one classroom designated as an APP. Batasan Hills National High School only had a help desk, but first-time voter Breanne Estudillo, 38, said the desk helped her fulfill her obligation as a citizen.

"[Bumoto ako] para maging produktibo din sa gobyerno," she said.

Roger Abesamis, a voter since 1991, said, "Karapatan po namin [ito]."

While all four are determined to vote, a Jan. 13 report from the Comelec Elections and Barangay Affairs Department (EBAD) indicated that the number of PWD who registered for the May 9 elections decreased from 339,144 in the 2013 elections to 292,908 this year, with 46,236 voters delisted from Comelec’s records.

Advocates believed the decrease was due to Comelec’s failure to notify PWDs of its “No Bio, No Boto” campaign.

In voting, PWDs and senior citizens may seek the help of relatives “by consanguinity or affinity within the fourth civil degree” or “any person of his or her confidence who belongs to the same household.” They could also ask election officers for assistance.

Valeciado and Abesamis voted as PWDs for the first time, after suffering strokes in 2015 and 2013, respectively.

Despite the APP and assistance desk, Abesamis said voting for him took longer this year. "Nung 'di pa 'ko na-stroke, sandali lang po ako. 30 minutes lang tapos na 'ko. Ngayon eh 5:30 [a.m.] pa 'ko dito," he said.

He also expressed worry that the ballots of PWDs, elderly, and pregnant voters have to be brought to their respective precincts to be fed into the vote-counting machines.

"Dapat dito na mismo yung balota kasi iaakyat pa daw nila eh. Ang hirap naman, di na nakikita. Dapat may box na mismo dito," Abesamis said.

PWDs, the elderly, and pregnant women may sign a waiver allowing BEI to insert their ballots to their precinct's VCMs in their stead.

Meanwhile, in contrast, it only took Estudillo less than an hour to vote with her husband, while Valeciado said voting was easier this year.

"Madali lang naman siya kaya lang naman medyo tumagal, akala ko kasi papaakyatin pa 'ko... Nagtawag na lang sila ng officer para magdala ng ballot sa (taas)," she said.

"[Dati] matagal eh. Minsan umaabot ako ng tatlong oras, mga ganun. Itong nakuha yung computer na po yung ginagamit, mga isang oras lang po," Valeciado said.

All four voters were hoping that the next administration would give PWDs a better chance at providing for their families and easing their burdens.

"Para magbago yung Pilipinas natin. Para umunlad, at matulungan yung mahihirap at disabled. Tulungan po yung disabled na makahanap ng trabaho at mabuhat yung mga disabled," Tubalinal said. –KBK, GMA News