Declare law on Palawan split unconstitutional, Supreme Court asked

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — A citizens group asked the Supreme Court this week to declare unconstitutional the law that split Palawan into three smaller provinces.

The 28-page petition signed by representatives of Save Palawan Movement also asked the high court to issue a writ of prohibition to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which will prepare for the holding of a plebiscite to ratify Republic Act No. 11259, the law that created the three Palawan provinces, in May next year.

Named respondents were the Comelec, the Department of Budget and Management and the provincial government of Palawan.

Lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda, counsel for the petitioners, said the newly passed law violated the local government provisions in the Constitution.

She said the law was passed without holding public consultations, violating the Constitution’s “provisions on people’s participation and right to information.”

The bill breezed through both houses of Congress. It was passed by the House of Representatives on Aug. 30, 2018, and by the Senate on Nov. 19. President Duterte signed it into law on April 5 this year.

The law seeks to divide Palawan into the provinces of Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental and Palawan del Sur. It excludes the capital Puerto Princesa City from the three provinces as an administratively independent city.

The provincial government had initiated the bill and actively lobbied for its approval in Congress, citing the measure as an important step toward Palawan’s economic growth.

Natural wealth

The petitioners also cited as unconstitutional the law’s provision that changes the current sharing arrangement on natural wealth proceeds between the province and its municipalities and barangays, with RA 11259 giving the provincial capital the largest share of the royalty.

Under the Local Government Code (Republic Act No. 7160), the sharing of natural wealth should be 20 percent for the province, 45 percent for the municipality, and 35 percent for the barangay. In RA 11259, this was significantly changed to 60 percent, 24 percent, and 16 percent, respectively.

The group also assailed as unconstitutional the law’s provision which prohibited residents of Puerto Princesa City from voting or participating in the plebiscite.

“This provision contravenes the Constitution, international conventions as well as existing jurisprudence,” the petition said.

Info campaign

Puerto Princesa City, the province’s only city, accounts for nearly 40 percent of the province’s total number of voters. Proponents of the move to divide Palawan claimed that because of the city’s classification as “highly urbanized” and its administrative independence from the province, it can no longer participate in the plebiscite.

The petitioners claimed that Puerto Princesa residents should be allowed to participate in the plebiscite because the city is the local government unit “directly affected” by the planned division of the province.

Sought for comment on the petition, Board Member Winston Arzaga, one of the proponents of the province’s division, said: “Unless we get an order from the Supreme Court, we will just go on and continue with what we are doing.”

Arzaga said provincial officials were focused on conducting an information dissemination campaign to prepare Palaweños for the plebiscite.

“Every citizen has the right to file a case and it’s for the court to determine [its] merit,” he added. —ROMAR MIRANDA/CONTRIBUTOR