A total of 26,299 out of the 33,286 registered persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) supervised jail facilities casted their votes in the May 9, 2022 polls.
BJMP chief Director Allan Iral said that as of 2 p.m., there were zero untoward incidents in the onsite polling areas of the bureau’s jail facilities and offsite precinct places.
He noted that 24,979 BJMP PDLs voted in the onsite polling places of its jail facilities while 1,320 inmates casted their votes in the offsite polling precincts.
“Maaari pa itong maragdagan (voters) habang ibina-biyahe pa ang balota mula sa iba't ibang special polling places patungo sa mga presintong itinakda itong dalhin (The numbers of voters might increase while the ballots from the special various polling places are brought to the intended precincts),’’ Iral said.
Despite being included in the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) list of qualified voters, some PDLs decided not to vote due to personal reasons while the others were transferred to the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) jails or were released from imprisonment.
Iral cited his men for their efforts in ensuring the security inside its jail facilities and their excellent supervision of the voting exercise among the BJMP’s inmates.
He ordered his men to ensure the proper ‘debriefing’ of the PDLs and personnel to have an orderly and complete list of the whole process in preparation for the future elections.
Before the PDL’s voting was conducted, the BJMP conducted simulation exercises in all the facilities manned by the bureau.
The simulation exercise included the BJMP’s coordination with the other law enforcement agencies and securing court orders to legalize the offsite voting of its PDLs in the various polling precincts. (Chito A. Chavez)