Macalintal to challenge SC ruling on BSKE postponement

MANILA, Philippines — Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal will ask the Supreme Court to review its decision upholding the constitutionality of the law that fixed a five-year term for barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials and postponed the BSK elections to 2028.

“I cannot – and will not – fail the Filipino people now. I am preparing to file my Motion for Reconsideration and will reiterate my plea for oral arguments to expose the grave errors in the majority ruling,” Macalintal said in his statement yesterday.

He added he would ask the high tribunal to schedule oral arguments for his petition, where he would “prove… that the postponement was deliberate and ‘intentional,’ a calculated move to deprive citizens of our fundamental right to vote and choose our leaders.”

The majority decision – penned by then associate justice and now Chief Justice Rodil Zalameda – ruled Republic Act 12326 was a term-fixing law and not an election postponement law.

Macalintal asserted, “If this ruling remains uncorrected, and if no one stands up to warn of its dangerous consequences to our democratic system, RA 12326 will not stop at the barangay level. It could embolden legislators to tamper with the May 2028 presidential elections under the guise of invoking the phrase ‘unless otherwise provided by law’ in Article VII of the Constitution.”

He believes the high tribunal may consider reversing its decision to uphold the constitutionality of the said law, which garnered a vote of nine concurring, five dissenting and one “on leave.”

“With five justices already voting in favor of my petition, I only need two more justices to reconsider their positions… From a 9-5 defeat, I earnestly hope and pray for an 8-7 reversal in our favor upon reconsideration of the decision,” Macalintal said.

In an interview over dzBB yesterday, Macalintal proposed a “win-win solution” wherein the SC could declare as constitutional the term-fixing power of Congress in RA 12326 and at the same time invalidate the law’s provision on election postponement.

Meanwhile, election watchdog National Movement for Free Elections yesterday urged Congress not to further postpone the BSKE. — Rhodina Villanueva