Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Visitation hours at the Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory was suspended on Tuesday, January 10, to give way to the whole day of off-site voter’s registration conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Cebu City Chapter and the Cebu City Justice Zone also offered legal services that Persons Deprived of liberty (PDLs) were able to avail of.
Jail Officer 3 Blanche Aliño, Cebu City Jail information officer, said that based on the list they provided, the Comelec hopes to register a total of 1,300 PDLs within the day.
“So far, wala pa man tay cut-off time nga gihatag sa Comelec. I think ang ila g’yung purpose ani is to actually cater [to] all. Ang PDL nga naa sa ilang lista, para mahatagan sila og opportunity or chance nga maka rehistro ang makabotar sa umaabot nga eleksiyon,” she said.
The Cebu City Jail currently has a population of about 6,000.
Of the number, around 800 PDLs were able to vote in the May 2022 local and national elections, Aliño said.
Aliño said that the off-site registration was scheduled to also give the PDLs a chance to cast their votes during the Sangguniang Kabataan and Barangay elections are slated this October 2023.
READ: ABC chief of Cebu City welcomes SK, Brgy polls’ postponement to Oct. 2023
“Magpasalamat kita especially sa Comelec sa paghatag og kahigayunan sa atong Persons Deprived of Liberty nga mapakita nga sila aduna pa gihapoy katungod sa pagbotar pinaagi sa registration kay giari g’yod sila,” Aliño said.
Aliño said that regular jail visitation hours, which is scheduled every Tuesday to Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., will resume on Wednesday, January 11.
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