Young voters have asked the Supreme Court (SC) to declare unconstitutional the law that reset to Nov. 2, 2026 the Dec. 1, 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) and extended the incumbents’ term of office from three to four years.

In their petition filed last Friday afternoon, Aug. 22, they told the SC that many young voters will not be able to run for Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) posts since they would be 24 years old after Dec. 1, 2025. Under the law, SK posts are limited to Filipino voters aged 15 to 24 at the time of the elections.

Also, they said that voters who will be 30 years old after Dec. 1, 2025 will no longer be able to vote for SK candidates since the voting for SK candidates are limited to those aged 15 to 30.

Thus, they asked the SC to declare unconstitutional Republic Act No. 12232 that extended the term of office of the incumbent Barangay and SK officials to four years and postponed the elections to Nov. 2, 2026.

They also asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would stop the implementation of RA 12232 which was enacted into law by President Marcos last Aug. 13.

The first petition against the constitutionality of RA 12232 was filed by lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal.

The SC has acted on Macalintal’s petition and required the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Office of the President through the Office of the Executive Secretary, and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to submit their comments.

The comments were required not only on the petition but also on Macalintal’s plea for TRO.

The second petition against RA 12232 was filed by Mystro Yushi P. Fujii, Boyd Luis Antonio C. Tolentino Jr., Louise Adrian F. Magat, Roberto A. Garcia Jr., and Catherine Apple S. Arenas who are members of a group called KAYA NATIN! YOUTH.

Their petition was filed through the Trojillo Ansaldo & Maranon Law Offices.

They told the SC that the postponement of the BSKE would deprive them of their right of suffrage due to age limitations under the law.

They said that unlike in national elections where suffrage is continually exercisable throughout one’s adult life, participation in the SK electoral process is a unique constitutional and statutory entitlement afforded only to the youth sector, in recognition of their special role in local governance.

They also said the postponement of BSKE under RA 12232 “directly disenfranchises an entire cohort of youth voters and potential candidates, whose rights are uniquely age-specific and time-bound under the law.”

“Once lost due to aging out, the opportunity to vote and/or run in the SK can no longer be restored, effectively resulting in irreparable and direct injury to their right to political participation, unlike in regular national elections where a citizen’s right to vote continues throughout their lifetime,” they pointed out.

At the same time, they told the SC that while Congress, under the Constitution, has plenary power to determine the term of office of barangay officials, “this legislative prerogative is subject to the fundamental limitation that any modification of term length must operate only prospectively and not retroactively benefit the incumbents already elected under a prior term-setting statute.”

They also said that “any law that subsequently enlarges their term after they have been elected constitutes a retroactive alteration of the people’s expressed will – effectively conferring a benefit not contemplated nor bestowed by the electorate.”

It is expected that the petition filed by the young voters will be consolidated with the first petition filed by Macalintal.