Barangays ask SC to be allowed to intervene in BSKE petition

The Liga ng mga Barangay ng Pilipinas (Liga) on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to be allowed to intervene and file an opposition to an earlier petition seeking to declare the law that postponed the Barangay and Sangguniang Elections (BSKE) as unconstitutional.

In a 35-page petition, the Liga also asked the High Court to dismiss the petition against the BSKE for lack of merit. 

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal earlier asked the SC to declare Republic Act (RA) 12232 unconstitutional, or to the extent that it pertains to the postponement of the election on December 1, 2025.

This came after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. signed into law this month the measure seeking to postpone the BSKE to November 2026.

Macalintal also sought a temporary restraining order and/ or status quo ante order directing the respondents to cease and desist from implementing RA 12232 or to observe the status quo before its passage.

However, the Liga argued that RA 12232 is constitutional. They said that Macalintal failed to demonstrate any breach in the Constitution by enacting the RA 12232 into law.

They also argued that the act does not provide for retroactive application and that it adheres to the equal protection clause.

Further, they said that the act does not postpone the election but that it fixes the term of the BSKE officials.

“The words ‘postpone’ or ‘postponement’ are nowhere to be found in the later law,” the Liga said.

“The authority to fix the term of BSK officials is specifically delegated to Congress under Article X, Section 8 of the 1987 Constitution,” they later added.

The Liga also argued that the public’s right of suffrage is not violated as the elections are still regular.

“With the setting of a new term of office, regularity of elections is not violated, because the law itself redefines the electoral cycle. Elections remain periodic under the revised timetable. Voters will still be able to exercise their right to vote,” they said.

For its part, the SC has directed the Commission on Elections, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin to comment on Macalintal's petition. —KG, GMA Integrated News