The Supreme Court (SC) has set six major constitutional and legal issues which should be threshed out during the oral arguments on Friday, Oct. 21, on the petition that challenged the postponement of the Dec. 5, 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

BSKE, under Republic Act No. 11935 that was signed into law by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. last Oct. 10, was reset to the last Monday of October 2023 or to Oct. 30, 2023.

The law provides that all incumbent barangay and SK (Sangguniang Kabataan) officials will remain in office until their successors are elected and qualified or unless they are sooner removed or suspended.

The constitutionality of RA 11935 was challenged by election lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal in a petition filed last Monday, Oct. 17.

Acting on the petition during its full court session last Oct. 18, the SC required the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Office of the President (OP) thru Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, as respondents, to file their comments not later than 12 noon on Friday as it set oral arguments, in-person, starting at 3 p.m. on the same day.

The Comelec and the OP will be represented by the government’s chief lawyer, Solicitor General Menardo I. Guevarra of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).

In an advisory, the SC said the parties in the petition should limit their discussions on six major issues, namely:

“Whether Congress, pursuant to the power granted to it to fix the term of office of barangay officials under Section 8, Article X of the Constitution, has the power to postpone or cancel the schedule of barangay elections.

"Whether Congress, with the enactment of RA 11935, effectively disenfranchised voters thereby violating their right to due process and their right of suffrage.

“Whether RA 11935 violates the ‘one subject, one title rule’ enshrined in Section 26 (1), Article VI of the Constitution for supposedly amending Section 5 of Batas Pambansa (BP) Blg. 881 despite the general repealing clause found in Section 6 of RA 11935.

“Whether the postponement of the barangay elections is constitutionally constrained by the grounds enumerated under Section 5 of BP 881, otherwise known as the ‘Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines,’ subject to the sole determination of the Comelec.

“Whether the postponement of the barangay elections scheduled to be held on Dec. 5, 2022, to October 2023 will amount to a ‘legislative’ appointment of the incumbent barangay officials.

“In the light of RA 11935 which resulted in the Comelec staying its preparations for the Dec. 5, 2022 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, whether the Comelec still has the logistical capability to conduct said elections should the Dec. 5, 2022 schedule push through.”

After the presentation of the arguments of each side, interpellations by SC justices will follow.

All attendees during the oral arguments were required to present negative result of Covid antigen test taken 24 hours before 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21.

In his petition, Macalintal told the SC that the power to postpone elections is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Comelec under Section 5 of BP 881.

He said 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.”

Specifically, Macalintal said that RA 11935 is unconstitutional because of the postponement and the extension of office of barangay officials.

“In a word, what the Constitution prohibits, the questioned law permits. Here what Congress cannot do directly, it is doing indirectly,” he said.

TAGS: #SC #BSKE #Comelec