Youth groups challenge law postponing BSKE

National

CALLS to nullify a law postponing this year’s Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) are mounting.

On Monday, Oct. 5, youth groups filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) challenging the law cancelling the BSKE, which was supposed to be held on Nov. 2.

It was the second petition filed against the law.

In a report by Philstar, the petitioners are seeking a Petition for Certiorari, Prohibition, and Mandamus, along with an extremely urgent prayer for a Temporary Restraining Order and/or Writ of Preliminary Mandatory Injunction to prevent the law from being implemented.

The youth leaders strongly criticized the 20th Congress for repeatedly altering election schedules and terms.

“A very recent postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) through a ‘term-setting law’ was already ONE TOO MANY. ANOTHER, SUCCESSIVE resetting exposes the danger of allowing legislative form to prevail over constitutional limitations. It is a CIRCUMVENTION, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, of the very five-point guidelines laid down by this Honorable Court in Macalintal,” the group’s petition read.

Named respondents in the petition are the Office of the President, Commission on Elections, House of Representatives, and the Senate of the Philippines.

Election law expert Romulo Macalintal was the first to file a petition. He argued that the law infringes on the electorate's right of suffrage under the guise of "fixing" the term of barangay officials at five years.

A BSKE was last held on Oct. 30, 2023. Another BSKE was supposed to be held in December 2025 but the Congress moved it to November 2026 through Republic Act 12232, which also adjusted the term of office to four years.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act 12326 on Sept. 24, postponing the elections to November 2028.(MyTVCebu)