MANILA, Philippines — Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal has asked the Supreme Court to declare Republic Act No. 12326 unconstitutional and stop the postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) scheduled for Nov. 2.
Macalintal filed a 26-page petition Monday asking the high court to issue a temporary restraining order or status quo ante order against the implementation of the law, which took effect on Sept. 25.
RA 12326 moves the BSKE to November 2028, or six months after the May 8, 2028 presidential and general elections. It also extends the terms of incumbent barangay and SK officials from four years to five years.
The law limits barangay officials to two five-year terms instead of three terms, while SK officials may serve only one five-year term.
Macalintal argued that the 2026 elections were already the result of a previous postponement. The last BSKE took place on Oct. 30, 2023, while the succeeding elections had initially been scheduled for December 2025.
Third BSKE law under Marcos
RA 12326 marks the third law signed during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration that changes the BSKE schedule.
Marcos signed RA 11935 in October 2022, moving the elections from Dec. 5, 2022, to Oct. 30, 2023. The Supreme Court later declared the law unconstitutional in June 2023.
In August 2025, Marcos signed RA 12232, moving the next BSKE from Dec. 1, 2025, to Nov. 2, 2026, and extending the terms of barangay and SK officials from three years to four years.
Macalintal also challenged RA 12232, but the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in an 8-5-2 vote on Nov. 11, 2025.
Macalintal challenges reasons for delay
Macalintal questioned the reasons cited by the executive branch and lawmakers for postponing the elections.
The administration has cited the need for incumbent barangay and SK officials to help address crime, flooding and garbage disposal. Marcos said the additional two years would allow officials to “further improve public service.”
The petition argued that the extension instead keeps incumbent officials in office without a renewed electoral mandate.
Macalintal also disputed arguments citing conflicts in the Middle East, an oil crisis and possible funding shortages. He pointed to more than P8 billion that the Commission on Elections had already spent on equipment and preparations for the Nov. 2 elections.
The lawyer also noted that Comelec had declared itself fully prepared for the scheduled vote.
The petition cited the Sept. 14 elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which proceeded peacefully despite the same global economic conditions.
Macalintal also cited Senate deliberations in which principal sponsor Sen. Francis Escudero acknowledged that lawmakers had not conducted a specific empirical study to establish that the four-year term under RA 12232 was insufficient.
Petition alleges ‘legislative appointment’
Macalintal argued that allowing incumbent officials to remain in office until November 2028 without a new electoral mandate effectively amounts to a “legislative appointment.”
He said this violates the constitutional requirement that barangay officials must hold elected positions.
Macalintal also asked the Supreme Court to conduct a special raffle of the case, citing the speed of RA 12326’s enactment and publication less than a month before the scheduled elections.
He urged the court to direct Comelec to resume preparations for the Nov. 2 elections or hold them at the earliest possible date close to the original schedule.
The 2023 BSKE filled 42,001 punong barangay positions, 294,007 barangay kagawad positions, 42,001 SK chairperson positions and 294,007 SK kagawad positions.
Under the Local Government Code of 1991, barangay officials receive honoraria, with minimum amounts set at P1,000 per month for barangay chairpersons and P600 for barangay council members.
Executive Order No. 332, issued in 1996, later placed barangay positions under the government’s unified position classification and compensation system. This allowed maximum honoraria equivalent to the first step of Salary Grade 14, or P32,321, for barangay chairpersons and Salary Grade 10, or P22,190, for council members, subject to the availability of barangay funds.
Barangay officials also receive other benefits, including a Christmas cash gift, insurance coverage, free hospitalization in government hospitals and tuition assistance for up to two legitimate dependent children during their term.
