A lawyer has urged President Marcos to veto a proposed law that Congress may submit to extend the term of incumbent Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (BSK) officials from three to four years and, in effect, postpone the scheduled Dec. 1, 2025 elections.

In a statement, election lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal said the proposed law suffers from the same constitutional and legal flaws as Republic Act No. 11935 which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (SC) in June 2023.

Macalintal said that while the proposed law was styled as “An Act Setting the Terms of Office” for barangay officials, “its true effect is to postpone the Dec. 1, 2025 elections to the first Monday of November 2026, allowing incumbent barangay officials to continue serving in a holdover capacity—effectively extending their tenure without a public mandate.”

He pointed out that while Congress may legislate the term of office of barangay officials, it cannot extend their tenure by postponing elections which would violate the constitutional right of the people to choose their leaders through elections.

Last week, the Senate ratified the bicameral conference committee report that would extend the term of BSK officials to four years.

The bicameral report from Senate Bill 2816 and House Bill 11287 states that barangay officials will have a maximum of three terms, while Sangguning Kabataan officials will have only one term in the same position.

Declared unconstitutional by the SC in its 2023 decision was RA 11935, an Act Postponing the December 2022 BSK elections. It amended RA 9164, the law on Synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

In the same decision, the SC ruled that the succeeding BSKE should be held on the first Monday of December 2025 and every three years thereafter.

Macalintal urged the President to avoid the same error by enacting a law similar to what the SC had declared unconstitutional.

He said the reconciled bill from the Senate and the House violates the constitutional rule that a legislative measure must only have one subject that is clearly stated in its title.

He lamented that the reconciled bill had, in effect, three separate subjects -- new term of office for BSK officials, postponement of the December 2025 elections, and holdover appointments of incumbents and extension of their tenure in office.