Palawan plebiscite 'going smoothly'; no plans to extend voting hours —Comelec

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday said the plebiscite in Palawan for the ratification of a law dividing the province into three is "going smoothly."

"So far, we feel that the plebiscite is going smoothly and we are hopeful that this will continue until the end of the day," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told reporters.

"As of 1PM, voting in the Palawan Plebisicite continues unabated, despite persistent rains," he said.

"According to reports, all polling places opened on time, with the exception of Kalayaan where the opening of polls have been delayed becUse of the late arrival of election supplies and paraphernalia," Jimenez added.

The C-130 Air Force aircraft eventually arrived in Kalayaan with the needed supplies amid rains due to a low pressure area near Puerto Princesa City, Super Radyo reporter Junfred Calamba said on Super Radyo dzBB.

Plebiscite materials at mga taga-COMELEC na magsisilbi sa plebesito para hatiin sa 3 probinsya ang Palawan, nakarating na sa Kalayaan, Palawan. | via Junfred Calamba, Super Radyo Palawan pic.twitter.com/9LQneTV48U

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) March 13, 2021

Jimenez said Comelec received only one report of an untoward incident.

"Thus far, we have received word of only one verified instance of an untoward incident, consisting of a report of certain barangay officials refusing to give health declaration forms to some voters. The matter was immediately responded to and voters were allowed to exercise their right of suffrage," he said.

The turnout of voters is "moderate" due to the rains, Jimenez said.

Comelec is optimistic though that more voters will show up at precincts before the polling places close at 3 p.m.

"With two hours remaining before the close of voting, there is some optimism that last minute voting will drive the voter turnout rate up," he said.

Jimenez said there are no plans to extend the voting hours in Kalayaan as they are confident the exercise will be conducted within the time frame.

"There are no immediate plans to extend voting hours in kalayaan. With only 200 registered voters in Kalayaan, it is expected that voting will be completed within the original alloted time, with voting hours being flexibly extended as needed, after the 3 pm deadline," he said.

The canvassing was adjourned on Saturday evening and will resume on Sunday at 2 p.m.

“Hopefully, tomorrow pag nag-convene sila, meron na silang maca-canvass at tuloy-tuloy na ‘yun at that point on,” Jimenez said in a live briefing.

(Hopefully, tomorrow once they convene, they can start canvassing and it will continue from that point on.)

“Today ang ginawa lang nila ay chineck lang nila ‘yung forms na kakailanganin to complete the canvass,” he added.

(What they did today was to check the forms that they needed to complete the canvass.)

Jimenez said that the plebiscite was generally successful based on their early assessment.

“Early assessment natin base sa ating monitoring na ginawa from the start of the process… ay generally successful ‘yung ating plebesito,” he said.

(Our early assessment based on monitoring showed that the plebiscite was generally successful.)

A total of 2,959 cluster precincts in 487 voting centers in 23 municipalities in Palawan are conducting the plebiscite to ratify Republic Act 11259.

The said law, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019, would divide Palawan into three provinces: Palawan del Norte, Palawan del Sur and Oriental Palawan.

The three provinces will be created upon approval by the majority of the votes cast by the voters of the affected areas in the plebiscite. — Joahna Lei Casilao/KG, GMA News