MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision allowing qualified persons deprived of liberty (PDL) to register as well as vote in local and national elections.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said detainees could vote only in places where they are registered. They should be accompanied by an authorized custodian.

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They must also be permitted by courts for this.

“Kung yung PDL ay botante doon sa lugar kung saan sila nakakulong sa kasalukuyan o in custody, doon po sila makakaboto," said Garcia in a public briefing.

(If the PDL is a voter in the area where they are detained or taken under custody, that is where they could cast their vote.)

"Kinakailangang protektahan din hindi lamang yung security kundi yung kapakanan ng person deprived of liberty kung sakaling sila ay pabobotohin sa presinto kung saan sila naka-rehistro," he added.

(We should protect not only their security but also their welfare when they vote.)

In a text message on Wednesday, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said there are two modes available for PDL voting: special voting centers in the detention facility, and a registered voter of another city/municipality.

The special voting centers were established "depending on the number of detainee-registered voters," the Comelec official said.

"If the detainee is a registered voter of another city/municipality, or in case there is no established special voting center in the detention facility, the detainee may be escorted to the regular voting center where he/she is registered," he said.

The detainee voters, he noted, should obtain court orders allowing them to vote in the polling place where they are registered.

It should also be "logistically feasible" for the prison administration to accommodate the detainee voter to the polling place where they are registered.

Laudiangco said it important that "reasonable measures shall be undertaken by the jail/prison administration to secure the safety of detainee voters, prevent their escape and ensure public safety."

PDLs who are allowed to register and vote include the following:

• those confined in jail or those formally charged for any crime/s and awaiting/undergoing trial
• those serving a sentence of imprisonment for less than one year
• those whose conviction of a crime involving disloyalty to the duly constituted government such as rebellion, sedition, violation of the firearms laws or any crime against national security or for any other crime is on appeal

The High Court affirming Comelec's Resolution No. 9371 means it agrees with the poll body's "commitment to the rule of law, due process, fair play and equity, and in championing the constitutional right to suffrage of all qualified Filipino Citizens," said Laudiangco.

He thanked the Supreme Court, Department of Justice, Bureau of Corrections, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and all municipal, city and provincial jails for the development.

— Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News