THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will ask the Supreme Court (SC) to rethink its ruling setting the next Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in December 2025 and every three years after that.
In a statement, Elections chairman George Garcia said that they are set to file a Motion for Reconsideration over the recent SC ruling on the constitutionality of the postponement of the BSKE from December 2022 to October 2023.
“The Commission will file an MR for the limited purpose of imploring the Supreme Court to revisit its ruling declaring that the succeeding BSKE shall be held on the first Monday of December 2025 and every three years thereafter,” said Garcia.
“The Commission will respectfully urge the Supreme Court to reconsider and extend the application of the operative fact doctrine,” he added.
The poll chief said complying with the SC order will cause the “unintended effect” of shortening the term of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials to be elected during the October 2023 polls to merely two years.
“(We will ask the SC to) declare that the next barangay elections should be three years from October 30, 2023, instead of December 05, 2022, considering that the intent of Republic Act No. 11462 is to space the elections to every three years and to set the term of barangay and SK officials to three years,” said Garcia.
Similarly, he noted the predicament that the Comelec will face with the next BSKE set immediately after the May 2025 midterm polls.
“The Supreme Court’s pronouncement will result in the conduct of two nationwide electoral exercises within the same year,” said Garcia.
The official, though, stressed that the MR will not question the main decision declaring the postponement of the December 2022 BSKE as unconstitutional.
Last month, the SC declared as unconstitutional the postponement of the BSKE from December 5, 2022 as per RA 11462 to the last Monday of October 2023 as provided under RA 11935.
Nevertheless, the decision stated that the October 2023 BSKE shall proceed, but ordered that the succeeding BSKE be held on the first Monday of December 2025 and every three years thereafter.
