SC to Comelec, Congress: Comment on plea vs BSKE postponement

The Supreme Court building in Manila. Photo by Niño Jesus Orbeta/INQUIRER

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec), as well as Congress, to comment on a petition seeking to declare the law postponing the 2025 barangay and sangguniang kabataan elections (BSKE) unconstitutional.

According to SC spokesperson Atty. Camille Ting, the SC en banc issued the directive during its session on Tuesday.

“The Supreme Court en banc during its session today, August 19, 2025, directed respondents Senate, House of Representatives, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, and the [Comelec] to comment on Romulo Macalintal’s petition and prayer for TRO (temporary restraining order) within a non-extendible period of 10 days from notice,” Ting said in a message to reporters.

It was only last Aug. 13 when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the law postponing this year’s BSKE from Dec. 1, 2025 to Nov. 2, 2026.

READ: Marcos signs law postponing BSKE to Nov. 2026; officials’ terms extended

This is so that the government could focus on the first-ever parliamentary elections of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

However, Macalintal in a petition challenged the law before the SC and sought for the High Court to declare it unconstitutional, thereby stopping the implementation of the law and directing Comelec to continue with its preparations on the original schedule. /das