Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen filed a dissenting opinion on the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE). The dissent was prompted by Republic Act No. 12326, which extended the terms of local officials to five years and moved the scheduled elections from 2 November 2026 to November 2028. Justice Leonen argued that the repeated legislative rescheduling of local polls undermines the constitutional principle of popular sovereignty and the right of suffrage. He noted that this is the fifth postponement of the BSKE since 2016, and that the practice has shifted from an isolated policy exception to a de facto norm that allows incumbents to extend their tenure without facing the electorate. According to Leonen, extending terms through legislative fiat replaces the consent of the ballot box with the backing of Congress and the Executive, eroding popular sovereignty and shifting local officials’ accountability away from their constituents. The justice further emphasized that suffrage is a fundamental right, not a dispensable privilege, and that legislative scheduling powers cannot be used to indefinitely override the public’s right to periodic elections.
Article source: The Daily Tribune | Image credit: The Daily Tribune