LUCENA CITY, Philippines--Quezon voters have rejected a law that would have divided the province into two separate political units, during a plebiscite held Saturday.

But the Commission on Elections said on Sunday only a third of the voting population of the province turned out for the plebiscite.

Lawyer Allan Enriquez, Comelec-Quezon chief, citing initial election returns from different municipalities, said the "No" votes crushed the "Yes" votes in most parts of the province.

"Its 70-30 in favor of No votes," Enriquez said in a phone interview.

The poll official expressed surprise over the low turnout of voters for the plebiscite.

"Based on initial reports, only around 30 to 35 percent of the total number of voters in Quezon participated in the plebiscite. With the active campaigns by both Yes and No advocates led by the Church and political figures, the turnout of voters was quite low," he said.

With the standing order from the Supreme Court that prevented the Comelec from officially proclaiming the winner in the plebiscite, Enriquez said they would count all the votes from different municipalities but would not sign the certificate of canvass and proclaim the results in the provincial canvass.

"We have to abide by the court order," said the Comelec official.

On the reported massive vote buying before and during the plebiscite, Enriquez admitted the Comelec could not prevent the illegal activity.

"Hindi na maiiwasan. (It can't be avoided.) With the limited resources of our office and the capabilities of the police, the enforcement of laws against vote buying is really hard," he lamented.

Lucena Bishop Emilio Marquez, an ardent Yes campaigner, urged the people to respect the result of the plebiscite.

"We put up a good, honest and educational campaign. Unfortunately, two of our lawmakers who crafted Republic Act 9495 abandoned the very law that they created. That's part of Pinoy politics," he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, apparently referring to Quezon Governor Rafael Nantes and Representative Proceso Alcala.

RA 9495 paved the way for voting on the division of the province into two separate political units--Quezon del Sur and Quezon del Norte--in the plebiscite.

Nantes, former representative of the province's first district, was the main author of the law which he vigorously pushed during his three terms in Congress along with Alcala, Representatives Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada III (4th District) and Danilo Suarez (3rd District) as co-authors until the measure was passed last year.

The decision of Alcala to abandon the "Yes" campaign and join Nantes in opposing the halving of Quezon doomed the initiative envisioned to bring efficient public services to the most impoverished sections of the province.

Representative Mark Enverga, son of former Gov. Wilfrido Enverga, also rejected the movement to halve the province.

Last Saturday's political exercise was reportedly marred by massive vote-buying. The "No" campaigners are being accused by the "Yes" advocates of fraud especially in the Candelaria town and Lucena City.

Indigent voters in the village of Cotta in Lucena City allegedly received P100 to P150 each to vote "No."

Police also reported the arrest of four people in Padre Burgos town for distributing "black propaganda" materials against the Suarez clan on the eve of the political exercise.

The Comelec official said the suspects were set to face charges of violating the Omnibus Election Code.

Lawyer Frumencio Pulgar of the Save Quezon Province Movement, one of anti-Quezon-split groups who asked the High Tribunal to stop the holding of the plebiscite on grounds of alleged constitutional infirmities of RA 9495 said they had decided to withdraw their petition on Tuesday.

"That's to remove the legal obstacles in the proclamation of the winner," he said in a phone interview.

"We are glad that the people of Quezon rejected the law," he said.

He called on all "Yes" advocates to set aside hostilities during the campaign and work with other sectors for the development of the province.

"The plebiscite was not a political contest. Let us again join together to chart the progress and development of one Quezon," he said.

Tañada and Suarez both called on their supporters to respect the result of the plebiscite

"The people have spoken, so be it," Suarez said over the phone.

However, the two expressed disappointment over reports that the poorest people of Quezon opted to sell their votes for the measly sum of P100 and reject the very law that aimed to save them from poverty.

"We want to eradicate poverty but it was also poverty that killed the law," said Tañada over the phone.

"It's now the call of the present provincial government to deliver the progress and development that they promised to the voters. The people's expectation is high," Tañada said in his challenge to the Nantes administration.