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Registered voters under the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) will be allowed to participate in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) for the first time in 13 years.

Jail Chief Insp. Jayrex Bustinera, BJMP spokesman, said a total of 31,125 Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) are expected to exercise their voting rights during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on Monday.

In an interview with the Daily Manila Shimbun, Bustinera said after the 2010 local and national election the rights to vote of the PDLs were suspended by the Comelec.

"Only for this local election that they are allowed to vote for local level, it can be recalled that the SC has issued a circular lifting the suspension issued by the Comelec on the participation of PDLs on local election, but this year it was just lifted by the SC, so is really historic," he said.

"The BJMP in this historic move underscores the commitment to uphold democracy and inclusivity in the electoral process, ensuring that even those in detention can have a say in shaping their communities," he added.

Bustinera said the Jail Director Ruel Rivera directed all the BJMP manned facilities nationwide to ensure a secure a conducive voting environment within the jail facilities as special polling precinct or in escorted voting at Comelec designated polling precinct.

Of the 31,125 registered voters in BJMP facilities, Bustinera said six percent or around 1,900 PDLs will be escorted going to their local barangays or local precinct while 29,000 others will exercise their rights to vote inside the jail facilities.

"The 29,000 will vote inside the jail, the jails are designated by the Comelec as special polling precinct, and then the around 1900 will be escorted outside the jail facilities, because the rule of Comelec is if there are less then 50 registered voters in a jail or a locality we will just escort them going to barangay or the polling precinct," he said. Robina Asido/DMS