Congress urged to pass law on detainee voting

A senior Commission on Elections (Comelec) official on Wednesday urged Congress to pass a law that would give detainees nationwide more access to their right to vote during elections. Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said that although the poll body has issued a resolution last year allowing detainees to participate in the May 10, 2010 elections, a law needs to be passed to ensure that men behind bars could exercise their right to suffrage in every elections. "[The] Comelec cannot do it alone. We need a legislation. First, on the issue of residency. Unless there is a law passed by Congress, ang pwede lang magparehistro at bumoto ay ‘yung mga (those who can register and vote are only those) detainees residing where the city or municipal jail is located," Sarmiento said at a forum at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City. He said Congress must also consider allowing detainees to take part in local absentee voting to give them longer time to cast their votes. The Comelec passed June last year a resolution allowing for the first time the country’s more than 45,000 inmates to vote. Limited manpower According to Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) chief Director Rosendo Dial, 17,336 inmates or more than 70 percent of the total registered detainee voters voted during the May 10 elections. He, however, admitted that the BJMP encountered some problems assisting inmates to polling places due to "limited manpower." "Although successful, gaps could have been prevented by additional manpower and logistical support, and most importantly, an enabling law," he said in a speech in the same forum. Sarmiento himself admitted that the detainee voting last elections was not without hitches, but nevertheless described it as “a successful initiative." "There were detainees who were not able to vote. There were some who were not able to register or were not properly briefed. We have ballots that did not arrive on time, election inspectors who were not cooperative, but over all, it was a successful initiative," he said. Happy detainees Ferdinand Talosig, a former detainee in Antipolo, thanked the Comelec, the BJMP and the Commission on Human Rights for letting him and his fellow inmates choose their leaders during the past polls. “Tuwang-tuwa ang kapwa inmates ko dahil for the first time, nakaboto sila. Mula noong pinanganak ako, ngayon lang ako nakaboto. Kung hindi pa pala ako nakulong para sa kasalanang hindi ko ginawa, hindi ako makakaboto," he quipped. (The inmates were glad because they were able to vote for the first time. That was my first time to vote. If I haven't been jailed for a crime I didn't commit, I wouldn't have been able to vote.) Talosig is currently on parole. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV