The Palawan Legislative Body recommended to Gov. Jose Alvarez the postponement of the upcoming May 11 plebiscite for the division of Palawan due to COVID-19 threat.
The resolution was authored by Board Member Leoncio Ola and co-authored by all members of the Provincial Board and was approved in the first and final readings during their special session last March 27, that once again, though teleconferencing.
In line with this, they also granted authority to Alvarez to file a petition to Commissions on Elections (Comelec) to postpone the said event.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan likewise authorized the chief executive, through an ordinance, to release the P198,000 Barangay Aid Fund to all barangays in all municipalities of Palawan.
Included also in the agenda during the special session was the resolution filed by ABC Federation President-Palawan Chapter Ferdinand Zaballa enjoining the Commission on Audit (COA) to temporarily lift the suspension given to some barangays that were previously suspended due to failure of submission of liquidations. The Board Member explained that this is necessary so that they could withdraw their quick response fund, special trust fund o calamity fund and the Barangay Aid Fund for the years 2019 and 2020.
Meanwhile, in a separate interview with Cynthia Sumagaysay-del Rosario, lead convenor of One Palawan Movement and Save Palawan Movement, she told Palawan Daily News (PDN) that they had already wrote the concerned agencies for similar purpose, prior to the action of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
“Mas nauna na kaming umaksyon [sa kanila] para ma-postpone ang plebisito dahil sa COVID-19 crisis. Noong Marso 18 pa kami sumulat,” she said. “Naipadala na ang sulat namin sa chairman ng Comelec na si Sheriff Abas. At sumulat uli kami noong March 2020, 2020 sa Presidential Complaint Center.”
According to del Rosario, they are now waiting for the resolution from Comelec En Banc because according to her reliable source, the Commission is now discussing on suspending the plebiscite.
The lead convenor of the One Palawan Movement shared a screenshot of the reply sent by the Presidential Complaint Center that acknowledges the receipt of her e-mail.
“Please be advised that your email was printed and will be forwarded to the Center’s Receiving Section for database encoding and assignment to the appropriate Division of the Center. A copy of the Center’s action document will be sent to this email address,” it says.
And as an evidence of her correspondence, Sumagaysay also sent to PDN the screenshot of her letter dated March 20, 2020.
“Good day. I am corresponding to ask for your assistance to contact the proper offices (e.g Office of the president or Comelec), in view of the current health crisis, for these offices to consider cancelling or postponing the May 11, 2020 plebiscite in Palawan for RA 11259 (the law that will divide the said province into three),” the letter reads.
She explained that the huge amount of P80 million originally intended for the plebiscite “can be used instead for the immediate needs of the people of Palawan.”
“These are trying times and cancelling the Palawan plebiscite will complement President Duterte’s recent declaration of public health emergency to combat COVIG-19.”
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