• RICHARD T. CABALLERO JR.
The Commission on Elections will continue preparations for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (BSK) Elections, despite the bill postponing the election having been signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday.
The Comelec is preparing in anticipation of oppositors filing a petition with the Supreme Court, which could alter the postponement.
“The Comelec is still preparing, in case the Supreme Court will declare the law unconstitutional,” Negros Island Region Election Director Atty. Lionel Marco Castillano said yesterday during an interview.
After the president signs the bill into law, it will be published and will take effect after 15 days, and that is when oppositors can file petitions, possibly questioning its unconstitutionality.
“We are anticipating that somebody will file a petition questioning the constitutionality of the law. After the law has been published to the official gazette, it will take effect immediately, and that’s the time that they can file for a petition,” he clarified.
Moreover, he also disclosed that the reason the Comelec conducted a 10-day registration is for them to be fully prepared to conduct an election this December, if ever the SC will not allow the postponement.
As for the preparations, the commission is set to conduct a session on August 26 for the approval of the new registered voters and to begin with the clustering of voters to determine the number of ballots and boxes if the election pushes through this year.
However, if the SC decides in favor of the law, the BSK election will be moved to November 2, 2026, while the registration of voters will open again during the last week of October this year until July next year, Castillano said.
Meanwhile, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Administrative Region (BARMM) 2025 parliamentary elections will proceed on the 13th day of October.
“The president wants the Comelec to concentrate on the BARMM parliamentary election that needs to be successful. That is part of the peace process between the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines,” Castillano emphasized as the reason why PBBM signed the postponement.*
