Opposition Lawmakers Oppose BSKE Postponement

Progressive and opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives have expressed their vehement objection to President Marcos’ signing of a new law, postponing anew the scheduled Nov. 2 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) this year.

“It is not Filipinos who stand to benefit from this repeated railroading of BSKE postponement. Billions of pesos in government funds have been put to waste,” House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima said. 

“We will once again deprive our people of their right to vote, and for those to be elected to be given their chance to serve the public. All of these rights that should have been respected, honored and have been sacrificed,” De Lima added. 

“The BSKE postponement didn’t bear reforms, but only worsened systematic patronage,” she said. 

De Lima’s colleague in the minority bloc, Rep. Renee Louise Co of Kabataan party-list, condemned Marcos’ signing of Republic Act 12326 extending the term of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials to five years. 

“The additional term of BSKE officials only means more time to stick to their posts. They just made it appear it was a term extension, but in reality BSKE postponement is what they really want,” Co said.

“Once again, a Marcos is stealing the election from the Filipino people and its youth. Once again, our democratic right to elect representatives at the most local level of government is being violated,” she added.

Legal challenge

Rep. Joel Chua said he welcomes the delay and urged those against it to seek recourse through available legal remedies.

“We welcome the decision of our President to postpone our barangay election,” Chua, chairman of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said at a press briefing.

Chua said he understood that the cost of conducting another nationwide election was among the considerations behind the postponement.

For incumbent barangay officials, he said the extension means additional time to work for their constituents.

The new law supersedes an earlier measure that had moved the BSKE from December 2025 to November 2026 and set four-year terms for barangay and SK officials.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said he is preparing to challenge the constitutionality of the law before the Supreme Court (SC), possibly on Monday, Sept. 28.

“In my view, the Supreme Court would find grave abuse of discretion in the enactment of this law, given the extremely limited time we were afforded to question it. It feels as though we have been deprived of our right to file or question it because time has run out; it appears intentional – doing it at the very last minute precisely to ensure there is no time to question it before the Supreme Court,” he said in an interview over dzBB on Friday, Sept. 25.

He also maintained he did not see any good in the new deferment, reportedly the third in four years, as each postponement has deprived voters of their right to choose their rightful leaders.

“I see no benefit in repeatedly extending it to the point where our very right – the right to vote – is lost,” Macalintal said

Citing the previous SC ruling against the constitutionality of RA 11935 – delaying the December 2022 BSKE to October 2023 – Macalintal asserted that Congress “cannot prolong that long, the postponement of an election.”

Macalintal expressed concern the new law could be used “for political consideration.”  

“That is perhaps what needs to be instilled in the public’s mind: that these lawmakers are toying with us... P8 billion spent means nothing to them, and the fact that the election is just two months away means nothing to them either,” he added. – With an additional report from Ghio Ong