On May 12, as Filipinos nationwide head to the polls for the 2025 midterm elections, 75 men detained at the Provincial Jail Management Division (PJMD) in Puerto Princesa will quietly mark their ballots, not just as inmates, but as citizens whose right to vote remains intact.
Provincial Jail Warden PCol. Gabriel C. Lopez (Ret.) confirmed that the jail has been fully prepared to facilitate the voting process. “Nakipag-ugnayan na tayo sa COMELEC,” he said, referring to the Commission on Elections. “Handa na rin yung ating opisina at maging yung mga sasakyan na gagamitin sa transportasyon ng kanilang mga balota na magmumula sa kanilang mga presinto sa barangay sa Puerto Princesa papunta sa jail upang sila ay makaboto.”
With most of the PDLs registered as voters in Puerto Princesa City, their ballots will be delivered directly to the facility from precincts across local barangays. A secure voting area has been set up inside the jail, and arrangements are in place for the safe transport and return of the ballots.
This is not just a logistical undertaking, it is, as Warden Lopez emphasized, a constitutional responsibility. “Siniguro namin na hindi malalabag ang karapatang bumoto ng mga PDL,” he said. “Malaya silang pumili ng kanilang mga napupusuang kandidato.”
In a country that has long struggled with voter disenfranchisement in various forms, the move is a quiet assertion of democracy behind walls and razor wire. Comelec officials have conducted orientation sessions and distributed voter’s information sheets to the detained voters in advance, helping to ensure that their votes, though cast in confinement, are made with informed agency.
While the jail’s perimeter remains heavily secured, what’s unfolding inside it ahead of the elections is a rare expression of civic normalcy, men reviewing candidates, learning procedures, and preparing to engage in a democratic process they are often assumed to have lost access to.
