BSKE postponement constitutional – SC

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the legality of a law postponing the December 2025 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, which extended the term of incumbent BSK officials and gave them a term of four years instead of three.

The SC declared Republic Act 12232 constitutional, resetting the BSKE from Dec. 1 to November 2026.

The high court denied the consolidated petitions questioning the legality of the law, which set the next BSKE on the first Monday of November 2026 and every four years after.

The petition, filed by election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, argued that the law is void for failing to comply with guidelines in postponing elections.

The law also violates the public’s right to vote and unduly favors BSK officials, Macalintal said.

The law limits the term of barangay officials to three terms and only one for incumbent SK officials.

In upholding the law, the high tribunal ruled that under Article X, Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress has the authority to set the term duration of barangay officials, as they are not bound by the general three-year term limit that applies to other elective officials.

“The legislative power is not merely permissive, but makes Congress the sole body empowered to define the term of office of barangay officials,” the SC ruled.

The high court also did not agree that the law violated the public’s right to vote as “it neither abolishes nor indefinitely suspends the BSK officials, but simply changed the interval from three to four years.”

In a previous decision, the SC had ruled that any BSKE postponement cannot be unduly long, and that regular elections underpin the right of suffrage under the Constitution.

Macalintal is expected to seek a reconsideration of the new ruling.

400,000 registrants

Nearly 400,000 more Filipinos are seeking to register for the 2026 BSKE.

The Commission on Elections has received 356,421 applications for registration since the resumption of the voter registration on Oct. 20, according to Comelec Chairman George Garcia.

Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) posted the largest number of registrants with 75,936, followed by Metro Manila with 49,342 and Central Luzon with 29,541. — Mayen Jaymalin