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March 13 Palawan Plebiscite: First electoral exercise in PH held during COVID-19 pandemic

Philippines | National

March 13 Palawan Plebiscite: First electoral exercise in PH held during COVID-19 pandemic

By Leslie Ann Aquino

A total of 490,639 voters are expected to participate in the plebiscite for the creation of Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental, and Palawan del Sur on Saturday, March 13.

(JANSEN ROMERO / MANILA BULLETIN)

The Comelec originally scheduled the conduct of the plebiscite to ratify the division of the province of Palawan into Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental, and Palawan del Sur on May 11, 2020 in accordance to Republic Act No. 11259.

The law provides that the plebiscite shall be held on the second Monday of May 2020.

In April 2020, the Comelec suspended the May 11 plebiscite due to the pandemic and government’s imposition of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon.

On October 8, 2020, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved the proposal to already hold the plebiscite in Palawan.

The poll body then set the plebiscite on March 13, 2021.

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