MANILA, Philippines—In pushing for every citizen's right to vote, Commission on Human Rights chairman Leila de Lima said Wednesday that even convicts serving less than a year should be allowed to exercise their right to suffrage after years of being disenfranchised.

"We have been violating their right all these years. The government has had its shortcomings in complying with the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)," de Lima, a former election lawyer, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone.

The CHR has filed a 22-page petition before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) urging the poll body to establish guidelines and rules and regulations that would allow detainees and prisoners to vote.

In its petition, the CHR cited Section 118 of the Omnibus Election Code, prior to its amendment by Section 11 of Republic Act No. 8189, that those disqualified from voting are the ones who have been sentenced to imprisonment "for not less than one year" unless given pardon or granted amnesty; persons who have been found guilty of crimes against the government such as rebellion, sedition, or any crime against national security, unless restored to his full civil and political rights in accordance to the law; and insane or incompetent persons as declared by a competent authority.

"Strictly speaking, those convicted of minor crimes could still vote. They are not yet disqualified," De Lima explained.

However, for the 2010 elections, no one serving this minimum sentence was able to register, as far as De Lima was concerned.

According to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, there were 58,121 inmates around the country as of June.

The CHR also said the Comelec should set up special polling places in jails, as much as it gave "special treatment" to former President Joseph Estrada and former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Nur Misuari, in previous elections.

The CHR said Estrada and Misuari were allowed to vote in "special precincts set up purposely" for them, "while ordinary persons deprived of their liberty were not even vaguely granted the same opportunity,"

The human rights body noted this was already in violation of the "equal protection clause of the Constitution."

De Lima said the Comelec should be able to put up special polling places in jails where detainees who were able to register could vote.

"Our apprehension is the registration of the detainees might be rendered nugatory if there would be no mechanism provided for them to vote," De Lima said.

De Lima said that under the Comelec resolution that allowed detainees to vote, they should still individually seek for the approval of the judges handling their cases before they are allowed to be escorted to the polling precincts.

The CHR recognized that it would be a logistical nightmare for the police to escort detainees on election day.

Section 155 of the Omnibus Election Code prohibits special polling places to be set up in "prison compounds."

But for the CHR, "prison compounds" refer to national penitentiaries and not the provincial, city and municipal jails and other government detention facilities where those who have registered for the 2010 elections are detained, or for those convicted of lesser crimes, are serving their sentences.

De Lima said she hopes the Comelec would schedule a hearing on the CHR's petition soon.