THE Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) to dismiss a legal challenge against Republic Act (RA) No. 12326, asserting that Congress acted within its constitutional mandate in rescheduling the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) and extending officials’ term to five years.
In a 59-page comment filed Oct. 5, Solicitor General Darlene Marie B. Berberabe urged the high tribunal to deny the petition by election lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal, who sought a temporary restraining order and nullification of RA No. 12326 for allegedly violating voter rights under the guise of term setting.
The bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Sept. 24.
The OSG argued that RA 12326 is a valid legislative policy judgment rather than an unconstitutional election postponement measure. While the Constitution fixes the tenure of other local elective officials at three years, it explicitly commits barangay term lengths to statutory law.
“The Constitution thus reserved for the people’s representatives a question that only experience on the ground can answer: how long those who govern at the grassroots must serve in order to govern well,” the OSG said.
The government noted that shifting to a five-year cycle eliminates an election over a ten-year horizon, generating projected state savings of P12 billion while limiting electoral overlaps with national midterm elections to once in 2043.
Addressing procedural grounds, state legal counsel argued the petition violates the hierarchy of courts by introducing disputed factual claims directly to the SC.
It added that a status quo ante order would destabilize election administration following Commission on Elections’ suspension of preparations on Sept. 25.
“The harm from a hiatus in barangay governance is incapable of measurement and irreparable,” the OSG said. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking