Members of the Senate said that they respect the decision of the people of Palawan on the division of the province.
Data from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as of Monday, March 15, showed that "no" votes are leading against the "yes" votes in the March 13 plebiscite on the law dividing Palawan into Palawan del Norte, Palawan del Sur, and Palawan Oriental. Senate President Vicente Sotto III brought up the development during their Monday plenary session.
"Apparently the people did not agree with Congress," he said.
Senator Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara, former chairman of the Senate local government committee, admitted that the law, albeit Congress' approval, was a "hotly-debated measure".
"We must respect the sovereign will of the people, that's my main point in asking for the floor. I think the drafters of our Constitution and their wisdom, recognized that these issues of division or seceding of a province or creation of a new province or a new district are such hotly-debated issues that they are submitted, aside from the votes of the delgates of the people, namely members of the Congress, there is a second vote taken. And that is that of the people themselves," said Angara, who sponsored the law in the Senate.
"At the time, it did seem to make sense because of the, I think governability was the main issue, given that Palawan is four times the size of Cebu in terms of land area," he recalled.
"But the bottomline is, again, the people have spoken and we must respect and honor that exercise of sovereign will of the people," Angara reiterated.
Incumbent local government committee chairman Sen. Francis Tolentino surmised that the rejection might have been due to the lack of awareness about the law's intent, as there were challenges in information dissemination due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"But then again we have to respect the decision of the people of Palawan rejecting the division of the province," he said.
Senator Richard Gordon, meanwhile, advised his colleagues to "tarry a little" in approving bills on the creation of provinces and legislative districts.
He, too, admitted he was "surprised" with the turnout.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, however, said: "I don't think we have to lose sleep over the fact that the people voted against the decision of Congress. This is how its works, this is how the system works. There are only very few instances when the direct participation of the people is called upon in the Constitution."
"We exercise our best judgement, the people did not agree with us, that's it. That's how the system works. I would not really, as I said, lose sleep. This is part of the system, and we should continue with the system because it's good for our democracy," Drilon said.
Sotto agreed, telling his colleagues not to fret about the decision as he recalled his share of rejected proposals in previous Congresses.
"It really happens...That's how it is," he said.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri also said: "Eventually it is the people who will decide...That's the beauty of the plebiscite." The hashtag "NoTo3in1Palawan" trended on Twitter on Saturday while Palawan residents vote on the ratification of the law splitting their province into three provinces.