The association of 42,011 barangays (villages) nationwide has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to declare as constitutional Republic Act No. 12232 that extended the term of office of the incumbent barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials from three to four years.

With the term extension, RA 12232 effectively postponed to Nov. 2, 2026 the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) originally set on Dec. 1, 2025.

In a motion to admit petition for intervention, the Liga ng Mga Barangay sa Pilipinas (Liga) represented by its National President Maria Katrina Jessica G. Dy asked the SC to dismiss two earlier petitions which challenged the constitutionality of RA 12232.

Dy was joined in the petition by about 50 barangay chairpersons in Isabela, Leyte, and Misamis Oriental, and represented by lawyers Alberto C. Agra, Janice Kristine R. Ramos, and Uella Vida V. Mancenido-Gayo.

They told the SC that Congress has the power to fix the term of office of barangay and SK officials under Sections 3 and 8 of Article X and Section 1, Article VI of the Constitution.

They pointed out that the 2023 SC decision that invalided RA 11935, which postponed the Dec. 5, 2022 BSKE, “is fundamentally distinct from the present law, RA 12232.”

While RA 11935 postponed the BSKE, RA 12232 fixed the term of office of barangay and SK officials at four years, and effectively postponed the Dec. 1, 2025 elections, they said.

Thus, they said, the two laws “are materially different legislative acts, and, accordingly, the SC ruling in the 2023 case cannot be invoked to strike down RA 12232.”

In their petition, the barangay chairpersons said that if the elections are held on Dec. 1, 2025, their term of office would only be for two years from Oct. 30, 2023, the date of the last BSKE, while RA 9164 (synchronized barangay and SK elections) fixes their term of office to three years for three consecutive terms.

Thus, they pointed out to the SC that “it is all the more proper for the BSKE to be moved for one year as this bolsters our legal right to intervene.”

Two petitions had been filed seeking to declare unconstitutional RA 12232. Both petitions sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would prevent the enforcement of RA 12232 and allow the holding of the BSKE on Dec. 1, 2025.

The first petition was filed by lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal, while the second case was lodged by young voters represented 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.

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.

In their petition, the young voters told the SC that many of them will not be able to run for 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.

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.