BACOLOD City – About 1,279 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in this city can vote this barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) record showed 402 PDLs at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)-Metro Bacolod District Jail in Barangay Singcang-Airport and 877 at BJMP-Bacolod District Jail in Barangay Handumanan.
City Comelec officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña said this would be the first time PDLs are allowed to vote in the local elections, as they were only allowed during national elections.
Comelec support staff will gather their ballots from their respective precincts where the PDLs are listed as registered voters.
“For example, the PDL’s name was registered in Barangay Bata. The ballot will be taken to the facility so the PDL can vote,” Trinio-Caña said.
Their voting starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. to give the support staff time to return the ballot at the precinct.
In 2012, a petition was filed with the Supreme Court (SC) seeking to thwart the implementation of Comelec Resolution No. 9371, which allows the participation of PDLs in the national and local elections.
The High Court partially granted the petition in 2016 and issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) for the resolution’s application in local elections.
On Aug. 26, 2022, the SC publicly released a nine-page ruling unanimously dismissing the petition against the Comelec resolution, thereby lifting the TRO.
Meanwhile, Bacolod City has no areas of concern as per last week’s meeting between the city Comelec, the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other deputized agencies.
Trinio-Caña said there was neither intense political rivalry nor the presence of armed groups and rebels so far and hoped the situation remained as such./PN
