Palawan plebiscite starts for ratification of RA 11259 dividing province into three

The plebiscite for the ratification of Republic Act 11259 dividing Palawan into three provinces has started on Saturday morning.

A total of 2,959 cluster precincts in 487 voting centers in 23 municipalities in Palawan opened at 7 a.m.

It was "all systems go" on Saturday morning after the Commission on Elections finished delivering to municipalities the plebiscite materials and paraphernalia at 3 a.m., according to a report on Dobol B TV by Junfred Calamba of Super Radyo Palawan.

The delivery of materials started on Friday.

Voters will cast their votes in the one-day plebiscite if they are in favor or not of RA 11259 which would divide Palawan into three provinces: Palawan del Norte, Palawan del Sur and Oriental Palawan.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed RA 11259 in April 2019.

Under the new law, the province of Palawan del Norte will be composed of the municipalities of Coron, Culion, Busuanga, Linapacan, Taytay and El Nido.

The province of Palawan Oriental will be comprised of the municipalities of Roxas, Araceli, Dumaran, Cuyo, Agutaya, Magsaysay, Cayancillo, and San Vicente.

The province of Palawan del Sur, meanwhile, will be composed of the municipalities of Aborlan, Narra, Quezon, Rizal, Espanola, Brooke's Point, Bataraza, Balacbac and Kalayaan.

Under the new law, Taytay will become the capital of Palawan del Norte, while Roxas and Brooke's Point will be the respective capitals of 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 Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines were on the alert on Saturday to secure the conduct of the plebiscite.

Palawan goes to the polls today to decide whether it remains a single province or if it gets broken up into three new provinces - Palwan del Norte, Palawan del Sur, and Palawan Oriental. #PalawanPleb pic.twitter.com/PwYCjmX07G

— James Jimenez (@jabjimenez) March 12, 2021

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez has earlier said they have reduced the precinct sizes to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

Health protocols will be strictly implemented.

Voters who went to Central Taytay National High School early Saturday morning had to have their body temperature checked. Health forms were also given to voters who did not have them, Super Radyo Palawan reported on Facebook.

—KG, GMA News