SC: Barangay, SK polls postponement unconstitutional

MANILA, Philippines — Eight months since concluding oral arguments and with only four months left until election day, the Supreme Court (SC) has declared unconstitutional the law postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) as it was left with no choice but to allow the polls to proceed due to “legal practicality and necessity.”

While the high court has yet to release its full decision, a briefer on the case said the SC en banc granted the consolidated petitions of veteran election lawyer Romulo Macalintal and six other lawyers that asked the high court to outlaw Republic Act (RA) 11935, which moved the BSKE to Oct. 30, 2023 from the original date of Dec. 5, 2022.

The decision, penned by Associate Justice Antonio Kho, stressed that the constitutionally guaranteed right to vote “requires the holding of genuine periodic elections, which must be held at intervals which are not unduly long, and which ensure that the authority of the government continues to be based on the free expression of the will of electors.”

While the SC noted that Congress did not “unconstitutionally” encroach on the power of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) when it enacted RA 11935, justices found that there was no legitimate government interest or objective to support the legislative measure, and “that the law unconstitutionally exceeds the bounds of the Congress’ power to legislate.”

“(T)he postponement of the 2022 BSKE by RA 11935 for the purpose of augmenting the executive’s funds is violative of the Constitution because it unconstitutionally transgresses the constitutional prohibition against any transfer of appropriations, and it unconstitutionally and arbitrarily overreaches the exercise of the rights of suffrage, liberty and expression,” the briefer stated.

“(T)he means employed by Congress are unreasonably unnecessary to achieve the interest the government sought to be accomplished, and that the said means are unduly arbitrary or oppressive of the electorates’ right of suffrage,” it added.

The case originated from Macalintal’s petition for certiorari and prohibition that he filed in October last year, which also asked for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against RA 11935, which President Marcos signed into law on Oct. 10 last year.

In the petition, Macalintal argued that while Congress has the power to determine or fix the term of office of barangay officials, the Constitution does not give it the power to postpone the barangay elections nor extend the officials’ term of office.

The matter was heard during oral arguments on Oct. 21, during which Comelec Chairman George Garcia told the SC en banc that they would not be able to hold the BSKE on Dec. 5, 2022, even if the SC grants the petition for a TRO.

Macalintal argued both in the petition and oral arguments that if the Comelec should not be able to hold the BSKE on Dec. 5 due to lost time brought by RA 11935, a closer date to Dec. 5 instead of the October 2023 under the law would be better.

Now that the SC struck down RA 11935 with four months left until the BSKE, it allowed the elections to proceed, but stressed that the term of office of incumbent officials would be deemed to have ended on Dec. 31 last year under RA 11462, which RA 11935 repealed.

To ensure that similar occurrences would not happen, the SC ruled that the succeeding BSKE would be held on the first Monday of December 2025 and “every three years thereafter.”

Under guidelines set by the court for postponements, it must be justified by reasons compelling enough, such as to guarantee the conduct of free, honest, orderly and safe elections; intended to safeguard voters’ right to suffrage; intended to safeguard other fundamental rights of voters; or public emergency, “but only if and to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation.”

The court also allows reasons such as election fatigue, purported resulting divisiveness, shortness of existing term and/or other superficial or farcical reasons alone may not serve as important, substantial, or compelling reasons to justify the postponement of the elections.

Meanwhile, the court also stressed that such reasons must also be based on objective and reasonable criteria as opposed to what Congress did in enacting RA 11935.

Finally, the court said the postponement must not violate the Constitution or existing laws.

The last barangay elections were held in 2018, but winning candidates’ terms were extended until Jan. 1, 2023, due to several postponements of the BSKE.

With the latest postponement, RA 11935 also allowed barangay and SK officials to stay longer in power, this time for a year.

The postponement was approved despite warnings from the poll body that it would raise the cost of the BSKE from the P8 billion allocated for last year’s exercise to P18 billion.