The Supreme Court decision declaring unconstitutional Republic Act No. 11935, which again postponed the barangay and SK elections (BSKE), sustains my position and those of a few other legislators that the challenged statute violates the Constitution.

The electorate’s right of suffrage must be exercised in determinable intervals and regularly scheduled elections.

The SC decision also supports our contention that the purported reason for the postponement to transfer funds earmarked for the BSKE to pandemic response violates the constitutional ban on transfer of funds.

The high court’s ruling likewise confirms our opposition  to the repeated postponement of the village and youth elections based on arbitrary grounds like “election fatigue”.

We agree with the Supreme Court that despite the unconstitutionality of RA 11935, due to “legal practicality and necessity” the BSKE  set on October 30, 2023 must push through, but the next BSKE must be held on the first Monday of December 2025 and regularly every three years thereafter.

This ruling will now foreclose any capricious and unnecessary attempt of the Congress to postpone future BSKEs. 

EDCEL C. LAGMAN