Comelec suspends plebiscite in Palawan

By Leslie Ann Aquino

The May 11, 2020 plebiscite to ratify the division of the province of Palawan has been suspended.

Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said the en banc suspended the Palawan plebiscite due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the Enhanced Community Quarantine in Luzon.

The en banc agreed with the recommendation of its Law Department that holding of a free and honest plebiscite on May 11, 2020 is impossible at the height of the spread of the COVID-19.

“In a health crisis as the COVID-19, the Commission is more importantly mandated to protect not only its personnel but the registered voters of the 23 municipalities of the province of Palawan,” the Law Department said in its recommendation.

The Law Department also said that it is logistically impossible to deploy personnel and election paraphernalia necessary for the conduct of the plebiscite.

According to the poll body, pursuant to Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code, the plebiscite shall be postponed to a date which should be reasonably close to May 11, 2020 but not later than 30 days after the cessation of the cause for such postponement or until the ECQ is lifted.

Last month, the poll body suspended the preparatory activities related to the May 11 plebiscite due to the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) that the government imposed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

It was last November when the poll body set the conduct of the plebiscite to ratify the division of the province of Palawan into Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental, and Palawan del Sur on May 11.

This is in accordance to Republic Act No. 11259 which provides that the plebiscite should be held on the second Monday of May, 2020.

RA 11259 was signed into law by President Duterte in April last year.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/04/08/comelec-suspends-plebiscite-in-palawan/

(UPDATED) A new date for the referendum for the division of Palawan into three provinces is on the second Monday of December, before Christmas 2020.