PDL VOTE. The Commission on Elections-Baguio conducts voter registration at the Baguio City Jail in January 2023 for the 200 eligible voters for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections. The poll body is set to put up a polling precinct inside the jail facility to cater to the PDL voters, a Comelec-Baguio election officer said Thursday (Sept. 9, 2023). (PNA photo by Liza T. Agoot)
BAGUIO CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) here Thursday said it is setting up a polling precinct inside the Baguio City Jail to allow persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) to exercise their right of suffrage in the coming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
John Paul Martin, Comelec-Baguio election officer, said in a phone interview that at least 200 PDLs at the jail facility are eligible to vote in the BSKE.
“The registered voters in Barangay AZKCO (Abanao, Zandueta, Kayang, Chugum, and Otek) cover the area where the city jail is located,” Martin said.
AZKCO is located inside the main Baguio City market and its peripheral areas, including the City Hall and the main office of the city police office.
Martin said the voters of AZKCO would cast their votes inside the jail, while voters registered in other barangays would be escorted to their respective polling places.
“We have coordinated with the BCPO (Baguio City Police Office) to help provide escorts. The Armed Forces based in the city will also provide augmentation in bringing persons deprived of liberty to their respective polling places,” the officer said.
He, however, clarified that PDL voters voting outside AZKCO are not automatically allowed to vote and still need to get court permission.
“They have to get permission from the court that is handling their cases before they can be escorted to the polling precincts. In the absence of written permission from the court, we cannot allow them to vote outside the jail because we do not have the authority to bring them out of the jail facility,” said Martin, who is also a lawyer.
Martin said some PDLs registered outside Baguio have likewise requested to cast their votes.
“But it will be very difficult for the law enforcers to escort them outside Baguio, considering the limited resources we have aside from the security concerns that may be encountered,” he said.
A polling precinct was also set up inside the Baguio City Jail during the 2016 presidential elections.
The Baguio City Jail’s population is more than 400 male and female inmates but could reach as high as 600 at a given time. (PNA)
