The Commission on Elections (Comelec) confirmed the victory of three PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) in the previous Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said that the candidacy of PDLs in the election is allowed until they are not convicted or found guilty by the court in the case they are facing.
Two of the PDL winners are from Calabarzon while one is from Region 10. The positions they ran for are not known.
PDL winners can sit and serve their constituents when they are acquitted of their case within their term.
“Take note po ‘pag kayo ay person deprived of liberty at wala pa final at executory judgement of conviction syempre po ‘di pa kayo guility sa ating batas,” said Garcia.
Garcia is addressing the Supreme Court’s March 2022 decision that allows PDLs to vote and run at the local level.
Despite this, they are not allowed to go to the barangay halls to be served until they are acquitted in their case.
2023 BSKE officially ends – Comelec
The Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) have officially ended with the canvassing of ballots in all 42,001 barangays in the country.
“100% complete voting and canvassing nationwide. No failure of elections,” declared Comelec Chairman George Garcia yesterday.
All the winners of the election have been proclaimed except for those suspended by the Comelec due to pending cases and those with “tie votes” yet to be resolved.
Despite reports of violence, Garcia also declared the holding of the BSKE a success, as he told critics that there is no such thing as a perfect election.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPRCV) agrees with this regarding the election outside the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The election was also not perfect due to reports of irregularities such as “flying and fake voters” where some voted under the name of another voter.
BARMM Comelec regional director Ray Sumalipao reported that there was no “failure of elections” in the region despite the violence and the success of the election as a whole.
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