IATF sets protocols for Palawan division plebiscite

The government’s COVID-19 task force has come up with health and safety protocols for the conduct of a plebiscite in the first quarter of 2021 on the law dividing Palawan into three provinces, Malacañang said Friday.

A two-day voting schedule will be implemented and only five voters will be allowed inside the room at any particular time, said presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, citing the resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) approved on Thursday.

Registered voters between 18 and 21 years old and those who are 60 years old and above, those with immunodeficiency, comorbidity, or other health risks, and pregnant women may go out of their residences to vote, Roque said.

The task force also encouraged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to devise safety mechanisms and procedures to ensure that confirmed COVID-19 and/or symptomatic patients can exercise their right to vote.

The plebiscite was supposed to be held last May but the Comelec postponed it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In April last year, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11259 dividing Palawan three provinces: Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental, and Palawan del Sur.

The three provinces will be created upon approval by the majority of the votes cast by the voters of the affected areas in a plebiscite to be conducted and supervised by the Comelec.

The election of the provincial officials will be held on May 9, 2022.

Proponents of the law had said the split up will address the issue of efficiency in the delivery of basic public services, especially in times of emergencies and calamities, considering the long geographical distance between the provincial capitol in Puerto Princesa City and the southern tip of mainland Palawan. —KBK, GMA News