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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Comelec working with OSG to draft comment on BSKE postponement petition

Comelec working with OSG to draft comment on BSKE postponement petition

Published Oct 19, 2022 12:21 pm

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Wednesday, Oct. 19 that it is currently in close coordination with the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to draft its comment to the petition filed by election lawyer Romulo Macalintal questioning the constitutionality of RA 11935, the law postponing the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

MB file photo

"We are likewise preparing for the Oral Arguments before the Supreme Court (SC), scheduled on Friday, October 21, 2022, at 3:00 p.m. for the case is now docketed as G.R No. 263590, Macalintal v. COMELEC," he added.

In a statement, Garcia stated that the poll body welcomes the said petition as it gives the SC the opportunity to resolve, once and for all, the question of whether the power of Congress to extend the term of office of Barangay and SK officials carries with it the power to postpone an election or whether it is the COMELEC who has the sole power to postpone the Barangay and SK Elections.

He also mentioned that Comelec will accept SC's resolution with "enthusiasm" and will readily comply with the court's eventual doctrinal pronouncements.

"This is democracy in play. We respect and laud the great branches of Philippine government the executive, legislative and judicial - in its continued development of the country's electoral legal framework," he added.

In the petition filed by Macalintal, the SC was told that the power to postpone elections is within the exclusive jurisdiction of Comelec.

Macalintal pointed out that while the Constitution gives Congress the power to determine or fix the term of office of barangay officials, “the Constitution does not give Congress the power to postpone the barangay elections nor to extend the term of office of the barangay officials.” On the postponement of elections, Macalintal cited Section 5 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 881, the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines.

"Thus, by enacting a law postponing a scheduled barangay elections, Congress is in effect executing said provision of the OEC or has overstepped its constitutional boundaries and assumed a function that is reserved to Comelec," the petition read.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. signed into law Republic Act 11935, entitled "An Act Postponing the December 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, Amending For The Purpose Republic Act No. 9164, As Amended, Appropriating Funds Therefor, And For Other Purposes."

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