Marcos says there’s ‘sufficient precedent’ for postponing barangay, SK polls

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. insisted Thursday that there is sufficient precedent for postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

This came after election lawyer Romulo Macalintal filed a petition before the Supreme Court challenging the recently signed law postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) from December 2022 to October 2023, saying that Congress has no power to postpone the barangay elections.

The President said the power of Congress to postpone the local polls is stated in the Local Government Code.

"Well, we have sufficient precedent for the postponement of Barangay and SK Elections. Nakailan na tayo," Marcos told reporters.

"In my time lang in government, I have seen I think four, maybe five postponements. And so I think in terms of the law, it is well within the powers of Congress to postpone those elections because that is not contained in the Constitution, it is contained in the Local Government Code," he added.

The Supreme Court has set the oral arguments on Macalintal's petition for Friday, October 21. Macalintal's petition does not include the SK elections.

Commission on Elections chairperson George Garcia earlier expressed hope that the High Tribunal would immediately resolve the petition. — BM, GMA News