The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday directed the executive and legislative branches of the government to comment on the petition challenging the law that moved the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to the first Monday of November 2026.
In a statement, SC spokesperson Camille Ting said the high court en banc asked the Senate, House of Representatives, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to comment on the petition “within a non-extendible period of 10 days from notice.”
Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal filed the petition challenging the constitutionality of Republic Act (RA) 12232, the law that postpones the BSKE that was originally scheduled on Dec. 1, 2025.
The law, which President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed on Aug. 13, also fixed the term of office of village and SK (youth) officials at four years.
In his petition, Macalintal cited a 2023 SC ruling that states that postponing the BSKE must be justified by “sufficiently important, substantial or compelling reasons to safeguard the right of suffrage.”
However, there were no such compelling reasons cited under RA 12232 to postpone this year’s BSKE, Macalintal said.
