ILOILO City – Vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not a prerequisite to vote in the May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections, stressed Atty. Wilfred Jay Balisado, director of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Western Visayas.
To make it a precondition to vote, the Omnibus Election Code must be amended to include such, he stressed.
Section 117 (Qualifications of a Voter) of the Code states: “Every citizen of the Philippines, not otherwise disqualified by law, 18 years of age or over, who shall have resided in the Philippines for one year and in the city or municipality wherein he proposes to vote for at least six months immediately preceding the election, may be registered as a voter.”
“The Comelec cannot impose additional qualifications. Imposing a ‘no vaccine, no vote’ policy is already amending the requirements set forth by law,” Balisado told Panay News.
Only Congress can amend laws.
Imposing COVID-19 vaccination as a requirement “or else hindi sila makaboto” is coercion of voters, said Balisado.
Section 117 of the Omnibus Election Code is an iteration of Section 1, Article V (Suffrage) of the 1987 Constitution which states: “Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least 18 years of age, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place wherein they propose to vote for at least six months immediately preceding the election. No literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise of suffrage.”
“Walang problema. We should educate our people na there is no such policy na ‘no vaccine, no vote,’” said Balisado.
Data from Comelec showed Region 6 having 5,026,482 registered voters for this year’s polls – up 217,643 from 2019 midterm elections’ 4,808,839.
Here’s the breakdown of registered voters per province and highly urbanized city:
* Aklan – 409,938
* Antique – 387,998
* Capiz – 529,079
* Guimaras – 124,076
* Iloilo – 1,628,752
* Iloilo City – 330,470
* Negros Occidental – 1,946,639
* Bacolod City – 327,403
What about registered voters confirmed to be positive for COVID-19 through reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test and are in isolation or quarantine? Will they be allowed to vote?
That’s a different matter already, said Balisado.
COVID-positive people in isolation or quarantine could not vote, he said, because allowing them to leave the quarantine or isolation facility would be a violation of the rules of the Inter-Agency Task Force of the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
What about registered voters that, at the voting precinct, are exhibiting COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms such as fever, runny nose or cough, among others? Will they be turned away by the Board of Election Inspectors?
According to Balisado, there’s a separate room or holding area where these registered voters could cast their ballot.
Each voting precinct will have a personnel designated to assist these voters, he clarified.
But while there is no “no vaccination, no vote” policy, Balisado said, Comelec actually encourages registered voters to take the jab.
In fact, almost all personnel of Comelec-6 are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, he revealed.
“Sa ating mga voters, kung wala naman tayong mga health issues na hindi tayo puedeng magpa-vaccine, dapat magpa-vaccine. We have to believe in science. Kasi we cannot get out of this pandemic without helping each other,” said Balisado./PN
