By Joel M. Sy Egco

The Department of the Interior and Local Government, Commission on Human Rights and the Commission on Elections have agreed to allow thousands of inmates to vote in the next elections, saying that many jailbirds have not lost their right to vote.

Interior Undersecretary Marius Corpus, who has direct supervision over the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, said Commissioner Leila de Lima and Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento are one in saying that convicts should be allowed to cast their votes.

?The secretary will ask the Comelec to prepare the guidelines. Talks are still ongoing but we are progressing. We believe that participating in local polls will work well for all jails because inmates will somehow get the attention of politicians. Anyway, inmates have rights, too unless the law disqualifies them,? Corpus told Standard Today.

Corpus showed a draft copy of a letter by Puno to Comelec Chairman Jose Melo seeking to ?pave the way for the exercise of the right of suffrage of about 43,391 inmates not otherwise disqualified by law to register and vote in the 2010 elections and who were in the past disenfranchised due to their condition.?

?As citizens, they cannot be deprived of their fundamental rights under the Constitution and pertinent laws. Indeed, a right that cannot be expressed is a right denied,? the letter read.

According to Corpus, the letter dated March 6 was up for Puno?s signature and could be on its way to the desk of the Comelec chairman.

Attached to the letter is the endorsement by Corpus and the memorandum issued by Jail Management bureau chief Rosendo Dial dated March 5 which asks ?for an en banc resolution by the [Comelec] for a favorable interpretation distinguishing jails from prison thereby allowing the establishment of voting precincts within the jail facilities nationwide thus facilitating the exercise of the right of suffrage by detainees and convicts not otherwise disqualified by law.?

The memo justified the request by citing the provisions of the 1987 Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights under UN General Assembly Resolution 217.