The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday declared the law postponing the synchronized Barangay and Sanguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) unconstitutional but ordered that BSKE slated for October 2023 shall proceed.
In a press briefer, SC Public Information Office (PIO) said the higher tribunal ruled that the Republic Act No. 11935 or an Act Postponing the December 2022 BSKE is unconstitutional because it holds "genuine periodic elections which must be held at intervals which are not unduly long."
The SC PIO also stated that the enactment of RA No. 11935 "was attended with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction."
"The Court said that the postponement of the 2022 BSKE by RA 11935 for the purpose of augmenting the Executive's funds is violative of the Constitution because it unconstitutionally and arbitrarily overreaches the exercise of the rights of suffrage, liberty, and expression," it added.
The higher court also argued that no law has indicated that the Commission of Elections (Comelec) has the power to postpone elections nationwide.
Despite nullifying RA 11935, the SC ordered that the October 2023 BSKE to proceed as it recognizes its "legal practicality and necessity" pursuant to the operative fact doctrine.
The higher court said the terms of the sitting BSKE officials shall be considered ended on December 31, 2022. But it noted that they will continue to hold office until their successors have been duly elected and qualified.
"This notwithstanding, the Court clarified that the continued discharge of functions by sitting BSK officials in a "hold-over" capacity, following the provisions of RA 11935, shall in no way constitute as an unconstituional "legislative appoitnment"," it added.
The BSKE was supposed to be conducted last December 2022 but was moved to the last Monday of October 2023.
