• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The filing of Certificates of Candidacy for the 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, which was slated for October 1 to 7, will no longer push through, Atty. Marco Lionel Castillano, Comelec regional director for Negros Island Region, disclosed on Monday.
Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal has filed a petition before the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of Republic Act (RA) 12232, the law that postpones the December 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) and extends the term of incumbent officials.
Macalintal urged the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO), a status quo ante order, and/or a writ of preliminary injunction to immediately halt the implementation of RA 12232.
Castillano said the postponement of the synchronized barangay and SK polls to November 2 next year, still remains valid, since the Supreme Court has not yet issued a TRO.
He, however, said that their preparations for the BSKE are continuing, as they are also awaiting instructions from the Comelec central office on when to resume the registration of voters.
Under RA 12232, subsequent regular BSKE will be held every four years thereafter.
It also states that the term of office of all elected barangay and SK officials shall be four years. But no elective barangay official shall serve for more than three consecutive terms in the same position.
The law states that no elective SK official shall serve for more than one term in the same position.
Macalintal argued that the 2023 ruling of the Supreme Court states that declaring that a BSKE postponement must be justified by “sufficiently important, substantial, or compelling reasons to safeguard the right of suffrage.”*
