MULING hinikayat ni election lawyer Atty. Romulo Macalintal si Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr., na i-veto ang panukalang batas na nagpapaliban sa Barangay at Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE)sa Disyembre 2025 at itinutulak ang halalan sa Nobyembre 2026.
Para kay Macalintal, ang pagpapaliban sa 2025 BSKE ay pagsikil sa karapatan ng mga Filipino na bumoto.
Bukod pa sa pagiging unconstitutional nito dahil sa unang desisyon ng Korte Suprema na labag sa Saligang Batas ang 2022 BSKE Postponement Law (RA 11935).
Sa ilalim kasi ng panukalang niratipikahan ng Kongreso, ang mga barangay officials ay magkakaroon na ng four-year single term at puwede silang mahalal ng hanggang tatlong magkakasunod na termino.
“For President Marcos to approve this bill or allow it to lapse into law would be tantamount to abandoning the sacred right of suffrage of the Filipino electorate. Filipinos justly deserve to elect their leaders and should not be led by individuals without the people’s mandate,” ayon kay Macalintal.
Sinabi pa ni Macalintal na kung matutuloy ang halalan sa November 2, 2026, araw ito kung saan maraming pinoy ang inaalala ang kanilang mga namayapang mahal sa buhay , binigyang diin ang “impracticality” ng pagdaraos ng BSKE sa nasabing petsa. Ang nasabing petsa ay bumagsak sa unang Lunes ng Nobyembre sa susunod na taon.
Sinabi pa ni Macalintal na hindi na dapat pang paalalahanan ang legal team ni Pangulong Marcos hinggil sa Supreme Court (SC) 2022’s ruling sa Macalintal vs. Comelec.
“The Court held that any postponement of a barangay election, or any election for that matter, must be supported by a valid government interest to ensure a “free and meaningful exercise of the right to vote requiring the holding of genuine periodic elections,” ani Macalintal.
Idinagdag pa ni Macalintal “[t]he reconciled bill that Congress wants Marcos to sign lacks any valid reason or government interest to support its passage, making it another bill that postpones an election in a manner that is “unduly arbitrary or oppressive of the electorates’ right of suffrage,” as echoed by the Court in the Macalintal case.”
Dagdag pa ni Macalintal, hindi dapat ulitin ng Pangulo ang pagkakamaling ginawa sa paglagda ng RA 11935.
“The President must avoid repeating the error of endorsing what the Supreme Court has already declared unconstitutional: an act that deprives voters of their right to elect local leaders and instead subjects them to appointed incumbents through legislative fiat,” amg pahayag ni Macalintal.
Sa kabilang dako, hinikayat ni Macalintal si Pangulong Marcos na sumunod sa ruling Korte Suprema sa kaso ng Macalintal vs. Comelec alinsunod sa pagpapaliban ng BSKE.
“The Court warned that election postponement “could foster a government that is not democratic and republican as mandated by the Constitution,” ang pahayag ni Macalintal.
“RA 11935, which the President previously signed, was declared unconstitutional for “unreasonably and arbitrarily infringing on the people’s right of suffrage,” ani Macalintal.ย (Daris Jose)