SC: October barangay/SK polls on, postponement law unconstitutional

By Benjamin Pulta 

The Supreme Court (SC) greenlighted the holding of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on Oct. 30, declaring the law resetting the polls unconstitutional.
    In a statement released late Tuesday, the tribunal said it "recognizes the legal practicality and necessity of proceeding with the conduct of the BSKE on the last Monday of October 2023, pursuant to the operative fact doctrine."
    The ruling was issued even as the SC en banc declared unconstitutional Republic Act 11935, the law which postponed the holding of the BSKE from the original schedule of Dec. 5, 2022 to the last Monday of October 2023.
    The decision said "the free and meaningful exercise of the right to vote, as protected and guaranteed by the Constitution, requires the holding of genuine periodic elections which must be held at intervals which are not unduly long, and which ensure that the authority of government continues to be based on the free expression of the will of electors.”
    The Court added that the provision for “hold-over” capacity did not amount to an unconstitutional “legislative appointment.”
    The Court found that there was no legitimate government interest or objective to support the legislative measure, and that the law unconstitutionally exceeds the bounds of the Congress’ power to legislate.
    The SC said the means employed by Congress were unreasonably unnecessary to achieve the interest of the government sought to be accomplished, and the said means were unduly arbitrary or oppressive of the electorates’ right of suffrage.
    The Court added that the purpose for the realignment of the budget allocation of the Commission on Elections for the 2022 BSKE to the Executive for the latter’s use in its projects violates the explicit prohibition in the Constitution against any transfer of appropriations. -- PNA