Metro Manila, Philippines – The Supreme Court has given the government five days to respond to a petition challenging the law postponing the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to November 2028.
The high court on Tuesday ordered the Office of the President, Senate, House of Representatives, and Commission on Elections to comment on the petition filed by election lawyer Romulo Macalintal.
“The respondents were given a non-extendible period of five calendar days from notice,” the SC said in its Sept. 30 press briefer.
The order also covers Macalintal’s request for a temporary restraining order or status quo ante order against Republic Act 12326.
The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the request to stop the law’s implementation or on the constitutionality of the BSKE postponement.
RA 12326, enacted on Sept. 24, fixed the terms of barangay and SK officials at five years and moved the elections from November 2026 to November 2028.
Macalintal said the law violates the electorate’s right to vote by postponing the elections “under the guise of fixing the officials’ term of office,” according to the SC briefer.
He added that the law effectively allows sitting barangay and SK officials to remain in their positions for three years, from December 2025 until November 2028.
The Comelec had already halted preparations for the 2026 BSKE following the enactment of the law, including the filing of certificates of candidacy that was supposed to begin Sept. 28.
In a previous case involving the 2022 polls, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the law postponing the elections, although it allowed the rescheduled October 2023 elections to proceed because of the practical consequences of reversing preparations at the time.
