Poll lawyer urges: Resume Barangay, SK elections prep

EDITORIAL

Election lawyer Atty. Romulo Macalintal has asked the Supreme Court to direct the Commission on Elections to “resume its timeline of activities and preparation” for the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
    The lawyer noted the poll body’s statement that it could hold the elections if the SC will declare as unconstitutional Republic Act 11935, the law postponing the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on Dec. 5 to the last Monday of October 2023.
    Macalintal cited a portion of the Office of the Solicitor General’s manifestation admitting the urgency “to remove what had so far become the practice of postponing barangay elections and, in the process extending the term of barangay officials through piecemeal election postponement legislations.”

    “Thus, I asked SC that pending resolution of my petition, the Comelec be directed to resume its timeline of activities and its preparation to hold the elections in May 2023,” Macalintal said.
    In his petition, Macalintal also said that Republic Act 11935 is unconstitutional, invalid and inoperative to the extent that it provided the postponement of the elections because Congress has the power to fix the term of barangay officials but not to extend their tenure.
    The fate of the SK and barangay elections remains hanging.