5,000 PDLs expected to register for barangay and SK elections

Around 5,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) are expected to register for the October 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) during the two-day nationwide special satellite registration.

According to Nico Waje’s report on Unang Balita, a total of 3,016 PDLs from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) will register for the BSKE.

Aside from the NBP, there are also inmates from the Correctional Institution for Women, Leyte Regional Prison, Davao Prison and Penal Farm, Zamboanga Prison and Penal Farm, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, and the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm.

The ceremonial kickoff for the special voter registration was held at the NBP.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said PDLs who are qualified to register and vote in the national and local elections are the following:

• confined in jail, formally charged with any crime, and awaiting or undergoing trial;
• serving a sentence of imprisonment for less than one year;

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• whose conviction for a crime involving disloyalty to the duly constituted government, such as rebellion, sedition, violation of the firearm laws, or any crime against national security, or for any other crime, is on appeal.

According to the Comelec, the Supreme Court affirmed the poll body’s commitment to the rule of law, due process, fair play, and equity, as well as its championing of the constitutional right to suffrage of all qualified Filipino citizens.

"With these, our qualified PDLs who opt to voluntarily register will be afforded their right to suffrage come election time," it said in a statement.

"Tatandaan po natin, 'yun pong obligasyon at karapatan sa pagboto ay hindi lamang para sa atin na nasa labas ng Bureau of Corrections kung hindi sila rin bilang mga mamamayan ng bansa ay may karapatan na makapaghalal ng kanilang napipisil na leader," Comelec Chairman George Garcia added.

(Let us remember that the obligation and right to vote are not just for those of us outside the Bureau of Corrections. They (PDLs) are citizens who have the right to vote for people who they believe should become leaders.) 

In 2015, a lawyer filed a petition seeking to prohibit detainees from voting in the May 2016 elections unless clear guidelines were made.

This was dismissed by the SC in August 2022, allowing PDLs to again vote at the local level. —Joahna Lei Casilao and Hana Bordey/AOL/VBL, GMA Integrated News