SC ruling on bgy, SK polls welcomed
THE ruling of the Supreme Court (SC) declaring unconstitutional the law that moved the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections should serve as a reminder to Congress on postponing elections in the future.
Albay Representative Edcel Lagman said he was vindicated in his opposition to the postponement of elections to other dates.
“ This ruling will now foreclose any capricious and unnecessary attempt of the Congress to postpone future BSKEs,” Lagman said in a statement.
The High Tribunal has declared Republic Act (RA) 11935, the law that moved the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) from December 2022 to October 30 as unconstitutional.
However, for practical reasons, the SC is not stopping the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from proceeding with the barangay and SK polls on the last Monday of October.
According to Lagman, the SC decision declaring unconstitutional Republic Act No. 11935, which again postponed the barangay and SK elections (BSKE), sustains his position and those of a few other legislators that the challenged statute violates the Constitution.
Lagman said the electorate’s right of suffrage must be exercised in determinable intervals and regularly scheduled elections.
“The SC decision also supports our contention that the purported reason for the postponement to transfer funds earmarked for the BSKE to pandemic response violates the constitutional ban on transfer of funds,” Lagman said.
“The high court’s ruling likewise confirms our opposition to the repeated postponement of the village and youth elections based on arbitrary grounds like “election fatigue,” he added.
The veteran lawmaker said they agree with the Supreme Court that despite the unconstitutionality of RA 11935, due to “legal practicality and necessity” the BSKE set on October 30, 2023 must push through, but the next BSKE must be held on the first Monday of December 2025 and regularly every three years thereafter.
