ILOILO CITY—A total of 4,959 Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) from 40 Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facilities in Western Visayas were able to vote in the recently-concluded local and national elections.
PDLs who are registered voters were able to cast their ballots on May 12 after the Commission on Elections reaffirmed their right to suffrage.
The number accounts for 92.67 percent of the 5,351 registered PDL voters in the region.
According to the BJMP Western Visayas, the voting process was orderly and peaceful, with no untoward incidents reported.
BJMP Western Visayas regional director JCSupt. Simeon S. Dolojo Jr. emphasized the bureau’s commitment to safeguarding the PDLs’ constitutional right to suffrage.
“We are committed to fulfilling our mandate of assisting and facilitating our PDLs for them to safely and orderly cast their ballots, as enshrined in our Constitution,” he said.
To prepare the PDLs for the election and promote informed and responsible voting, the BJMP in Iloilo City conducted a voter education campaign at the Iloilo City District Jail-Male Dormitory before the election day.
Jerous Labrador, the facility’s Community Relations and Services Officer, emphasized that the activity aimed to deepen the inmates’ understanding of the electoral process and their role as voters.
“[It is] our duty to equip our PDLs with factual, unbiased information so they can make intelligent decisions on election day,” Labrador added.
The said initiative reached 1,045 PDL voters and emphasized non-partisan and unbiased electoral participation. (AAL/ED/PIA6)
