We cannot deny that Palawan Island is rich in marine and inland resources. It offers beautiful and natural attractions, historical sites, and different Filipino cultures. The tourism industry continues to rise up but why should Palawan be divided into three? When will it happen?

A plebiscite is also known as referendum wherein people must vote for a change in the constitution of the government.

Supposed to be, the plebiscite should happen on March 11, 2020 but it has been postponed as the National government was still struggling for the pandemic. The plebiscite was rescheduled on March 13, 2021. According to Commision on Elections (COMELEC) , there are a total of 490,639 voters expected to participate.

How will Palawan be divided?

If approved by the voters of the affected municipalities, The Republic Act No. 11259 also known as The Charter of the Provinces of Palawan del Norte, Palawan del Sur, and Palawan Oriental will be effective. The division of the provinces will be divided into:

Palawan del Norte will make Taytay as its capital and consist of Busuanga, Coron, El Nido, and Linapacan.

Palawan del Sur will be having Brooke's Point as the capital and will be having Aborlan, Balabac, Bataraza, Sofronio Española, Kalayaan, Narra, Quezon, and Rizal.

Meanwhile, Palawan Oriental will claim Agutaya, Araceli, Cagayancillo, Cuyo, Dumaran, Magsaysay, San Vicente. The Roxas will be its capital.

On the other hand, Puerto Princesa will not be counted on the division and voting. As it is an independent city and not a part of the province of Palawan, and it will not be affected for this plebiscite.

Last year, in October the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Emerging Infectious Disease approved the health and safety measures for the upcoming election. For those voters that are pregnant, health risk and ages 18 to 21, and 60 years old up will be exempted for mobility.

The local governments in municipalities are preparing for the upcoming plebiscite. The liquor and gun ban are strictly implemented to avoid unexpected situations. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chairman Sheriff M. Abbas said that they will ensure and vowed that there will be no partisan during the votation.

There will be a total of 2,959 cluster precinct and 487 voting centers that would cater all the residents' voters. There will be a total of 3,446 plebiscite committees.

The government of Palawan has to manage all of the 23 municipalities, the 11 are located in islands.

Does the Palawan government need to be divided to give attention to each of its municipalities and improve? Would dividing Palawan into three would create more accurate leadership or will it be hard? Is the uniformed personnel in the government not enough? We do not know the answer yet but the residents are looking forward for good and better governance.