EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
Second Regular Session
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SENATE
S. B. No. 1866
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Introduced by Senator SONNY ANGARA
AN ACT
ENHANCING ACCESSIBILITY IN THE VOTING OF SENIOR CITIZENS AND
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTIONS
2(J) AND 9, AND CREATING NEW SECTIONS 9-A AND 9-B UNDER
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10366, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS AN ACT AUTHORIZING
THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS TO ESTABLISH PRECINCTS ASSIGNED
TO ACCESSIBLE POLLING PLACES EXCLUSIVELY FOR PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES AND SENIOR CITIZENS
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Voting is a cornerstone of any democracy. No less than the Constitution
enshrines suffrage under Section 1, Article V providing that the right to vote "may be
exercised by all citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are
at least eighteen 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."
There were more than 61.8 million Filipinos who registered to vote in the 2019
National and Local Elections as recorded by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
Of this number, 9.1 million or 14 percent are senior citizens based on COMELEC
statistics1, while at least 342,300 are persons with disabilities (PWDs) as estimated
by The Asia Foundation2.
It is alarming that, in the most recent National and Local Elections, only a
small fraction of senior citizens and PWDs were willing to vote in accessible polling
places as mandated by Republic Act No. 10366 or An Act Authorizing the Commission
on Elections to Establish Precincts Assigned to Accessible Polling Places Exclusively
1 Commission on Eiections (COMELEC) Quick Stats on the May 13,2019 Nationai and Locai Eiections.
2 Bacungan, VJ. ‘Don't make us crawl on Eiection Day: PWD groups.” ABS-CBN News, 27 Aprii 2019, https://news.abscbn.com/spotlight/04/27/19/dont-make-us-crawl-on-election-day-pwd-groups