ELECTIONS chairman George Garcia yesterday called on the Supreme Court (SC) to immediately resolve the petition questioning the legality of the postponement of the December 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
In an interview, Garcia said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is hoping that the High Court would already act on the petition filed by veteran election lawyer Romulo Macalintal.
“Based on our monitoring, according to the Chief Justice (Alexander Gesmundo), they will prioritize cases of national interest, foremost of which is on the constitutionality of the BSKE postponement,” said Garcia.
“Thus, we are hoping that by the early part of this year, this petition will already be resolved,” he added.
Republic Act No. 11935 rescheduled the BSKE from December 5, 2022 to the last Monday of October 2023.
Macalintal has questioned before the SC the legality of the law saying Congress has no power under the 1987 Constitution to postpone elections.
Pending the resolution of the petition, Garcia said the poll body will continue their preparations for the next BSKE in October.
“Under the law, the elections will be on October 30,” he said, adding: “As far as the Comelec is concerned, that will be the direction of our preparations, unless there are new developments between now and October 30.” — Gerard Naval
