Bilibid inmates exercise suffrage for the first time

MANILA, Philippines - For the first time, inmates at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) will exercise their right of suffrage and cast their votes today.

NBP Superintendent Fajardo Lansangan said 1,860 were chosen out of the 22,000 inmates in the state penitentiary.

Of the 22,000 inmates, only 2,322 have registered to vote, with 2,065 of them from the maximum security compound and 257 from medium security but 1,860 will be allowed to vote.

Lansangan said those who were allowed to vote are inmates whose cases are on appeal or are awaiting trial.

“This is a historic event, the first time in history that inmates in the national prison will vote in the election,” he said.

Lansangan explained the inmates are considered residents of Muntinlupa City and they will be allowed to vote for the local candidates.

He said the voting would be held at multipurpose hall of the administrative building of the prison facility.

Security plans have been implemented to make sure the prisoners would stay inside the compound and no one tries to escape.

The voters will be escorted out of their cells and placed in a holding area to wait for their turn to vote.

Lansangan said the accomplished ballots would be brought out by personnel of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from the voting area in prison and feed them to the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in a polling precinct in Alabang.

The Comelec said about 40,000 detainees in various jails nationwide are qualified to vote in today’s elections.

Comelec Commissioner Luie Guia said the poll body has set up polling precincts in 212 detention centers to enable about 40,000 inmates to cast their votes.

Guia explained a prisoner could exercise his or her right to suffrage as long as the Supreme Court has not convicted him or her with finality.

In jails where there are more than 50 registered voters, Guia said the Comelec has set up special polling precincts.

Guia said there would be no PCOS machines to be installed in the special polling precincts but only the ballots.

“The inmates were given until 3 p.m. to cast their votes because those ballots will still be taken to the mother polling precincts where it will be counted,” Guia explained.

In jails where there are less than 50 registered voters, Guia said, the inmates may be allowed to go to their assigned polling precincts.

However, prisoners who will be voting to polling precincts need to secure a court order and must be escorted by jail guards and police.

Guia said votes coming from big penal facilities such as the Manila City Jail, NBP and the Cebu Provincial Jail could affect the outcome of the elections.

He said political parties could choose to deploy watchers in the special polling precincts for inmates. 

– Mayen Jaymalin