2-day voting period for 2021 Palawan plebiscite approved – IATF

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s COVID-19 task force has approved a two-day voting period with five voters in one room at a time as a protocol for the conduct of a plebiscite in Palawan by the first quarter of 2021.

The people of Palawan are set to vote next year on the law that would divide Palawan into three provinces.

“These include the period of voting over the course of two days and five voters in the room at any particular time,” Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

“Registered voters between the ages of 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 shall be exempt from mobility restrictions for the purpose of voting,” Roque added.

The IATF also encouraged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to devise safety mechanisms to let patients of COVID-19 exercise their right to vote.

During the onset of the quarantine restrictions in April, Comelec suspended all preparations related to the plebiscite to ratify Republic Act No. 11259, which divides Palawan into the provinces: Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental, and Palawan del Sur.

The new provinces will only be created upon the approval of the majority of the people of Palawan through a plebiscite conducted and supervised by the Comelec in the first quarter of 2021.

KGA