The Commission on Elections suspended voter registration in the 23 municipalities in Palawan province due to the plebiscite that would decide on dividing the province into three.
The Comelec announced that the voter registration for the 2022 national elections will resume on Jan. 20.
“The Comelec will not open the voter registration in the 23 municipalities in Palawan because there is going to be a plebiscite in Palawan. It will affect the registration period,” Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said.
He said the plebiscite to ratify the division of the province of Palawan into Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental, and Palawan del Sur will be held on May 11, 2020.
The Comelec is currently preparing the final list of voters, the ballot boxes, board of canvassers and the plebiscite committees or the Board of Elections Inspectors in regular elections.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte signed RA 11259 that which divides Palawan into Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental, and Palawan del Sur.
The Comelec said the plebiscite will be conducted to determine whether the majority of the voters in affected areas would approve the new provinces.
The municipalities affected in the plebiscite are Coron, Culion, Busuanga, Linapacan, Taytay, El Nido, Roxas, Araceli, Dumaran, Cuyo, Agutaya, Magsaysay, Cagayancillo, San Vicente, Aborlan, Narra, Quezon, Rizal, Española, Brooke’s Point, Bataraza, Balabac, and Kalayaan.
However, voter registration will still resume in Puerto Princesa City, Jimenez said.
The highly urbanized city will not be part of the new Palawan province but will become a separate political entity with its own congressional representative.