Macalintal urges SC to stop BSKE deferral
MANILA, Philippines — Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal has filed a fresh legal challenge before the Supreme Court (SC), seeking to declare Republic Act 12326 unconstitutional and stop the postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
Aside from postponing this year’s election, RA 12326 extends the term of office of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials to five years.
In his 26-page petition, Macalintal urged the SC to issue an immediate temporary restraining order or status quo ante order to stop the implementation of RA 12326.
The new law, which took effect on Sept. 25, extended the term of office of barangay officials from four to five years, while the election was moved back by two years, specifically to November 2028.
However, Macalintal told the SC that the 2026 elections were already on a delayed schedule because the last BSKE election was held on Oct. 30, 2023, with the succeeding election originally set for December 2025.
The petition criticized the justifications provided by both the executive branch and lawmakers.
During a Malacañang briefing, the executive branch cited the need for incumbent officials to help combat crime, address flooding and manage local garbage disposal as reasons for the delay.
“If these incumbent barangay officials still do not know how to do the jobs expected of them, then there is indeed a real and genuine need to proceed with the November 2026 BSKE, so that the electorate may decide whether to give its mandate to these incumbent barangay officials,” the petition stated.
Macalintal added that arguments citing the Middle East conflicts, an oil crisis and potential funding shortages as reasons to move the BSKE elections were “frivolous.”
He noted that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had already spent over P8 billion and declared itself “100 percent ready” for the November 2026 vote. Moreover, the recent Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) elections proceeded peacefully on Sept. 14, 2026, under the same global economic conditions.
The petition also cited Senate deliberations in which principal sponsor Sen. Francis Escudero admitted that no specific empirical study was conducted to prove that the four-year term under RA 12232 was insufficient.
Macalintal added that by allowing incumbent officials to remain in office in a holdover capacity until November 2028 without a renewed mandate, Congress effectively performed a “legislative appointment,” violating the constitutional requirement that barangay officials must be elected.
Citing the “lightning speed” of the law’s enactment and publication barely a month before the scheduled election date, Macalintal asked the Supreme Court to conduct a special raffle of the case.
He requested the High Court to direct Comelec to resume all electoral preparations for the Nov. 2, 2026, polls or conduct them at the earliest possible date close to the original schedule. /mcm
