SMOOTH VOTING. Persons deprived of liberty at Iloilo District Jail in Nanga village, Pototan exercise their civic duties and successfully cast their votes for national positions during Monday's (May 13, 2019) elections. Two hundred thirty-nine of the 1,700 PDLs voteD. (File photo)
ILOILO CITY – Persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at Iloilo District Jail (IDJ) in Nanga village, Pototan successfully casted their votes for the midterm elections on Monday.
A total of 218 PDLs in the IDJ Male Dormitory and 39 PDLs in the IDJ Female Dormitory successfully casted their votes from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on Monday, Chief Insp. Richard Servano, IDJ Officer-in-Charge, said in a phone interview Monday.
Servano said the IDJ male dormitory has 1, 700 PDLs; 239 of which are registered voters.
“Only 218 PDLs casted their votes because the rest have already availed plea-bargaining and therefore they are not considered prisoners,” Servano said.
Insp. Imee Lopera of the IDJ Female Dormitory, meanwhile, said that the female dorm currently holds 160 PDLs.
The voting process of female PDLs was fast and smooth which started from 7:00 a.m. and concluded at 7:30 a.m.
Servano said voting was well-organized and there had neither technical difficulty nor security challenges encountered.
“It was a smooth and fast voting process because the PDLs are briefed beforehand. Also, there were 18 security personnel augmented by the Police Regional Office (PRO) which assured the peaceful elections,” he said.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) team pulled out at around 10:15 a.m., he added. (PNA)
