House leaders defend 5-year barangay, SK terms

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Two House leaders on Monday asserted the constitutionality of Republic Act No. 12326, or the Act Fixing the Term of Office of Barangay Officials and Members of the Sangguniang Kabataan to Five Years.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal filed a petition before the Supreme Court against the said law, calling it unconstitutional.

House Senior Deputy Speaker Ferdinand Hernandez of the second district of South Cotabato contradicted Macalintal.

"No. In fact, in the Supreme Court ruling in 2025, they already recognized that Congress is the sole authority to determine the term of the barangay officials," Hernandez said in an online interview Monday.

"Congress is just exercising our delegated power, delegated power of the Constitution that we can fix the term of barangay officials," he added.

"It's constitutional," said House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms chairperson Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong in a separate online interview.

"It went through the regular process of having the two chambers pass the law. Nagkaroon naman po ng deliberation diyan sa komite. Lahat naman po ng stakeholders ay inimbitahan at nagkaroon po ng discussion diyan. Hindi naman minadali," Alonto Adiong added.

The House officials also said that the law aims to fix the term of barangay and SK officials, and that the postponement of the November 2, 2026 Barangay and SK elections was only incidental.

"There is a difference between postponement and fixing the term. Ang Macalintal case na nagsasabi na bago ka mag-postpone ng eleksiyon, kailangang mayroong criteria: that the reason must be important, substantial, and compelling. In this case, dahil ito ay fixing of the term, hindi po mag-a-apply ang Macalintal case," Hernandez explained.

When asked if Congress should have enacted two separate laws, one for fixing the term of the said officials and another for the conduct of the BSKE, Hernandez replied, "Hindi puwedeng paghiwalayin kasi when you fix the term, yung pagmo-move ng date of the election is incidental to fixing of the term. So hindi ito postponement."

"Sa palagay ko naman, it's not an issue of sino ang makikinabang. The impact of the resetting of the election is just incidental to the postponing," Adiong said.

The Commission on Elections had already started preparations for the Barangay and SK elections before the law was passed.

Hernandez and Adiong said the preparations would not go to waste even though the elections have been scheduled for November 2028.

"Well, tinanong po natin ang Comelec din dyan. Meron naman pong mga paraphernalia na pwede naman po rin magamit in the 2028 elections," Adiong stated.

"Yung mga tinta ng ballpen, baka hindi na 'yan magamit. Very minimal yung in terms of cost na makakaapekto sa budget," Hernandez added. —LDF, GMA News