Sen. Estrada hopes SC favors law postponing barangay, SK polls

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Jinggoy Estrada is hoping that the Supreme Court (SC) would favor the recently passed law which postpones the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).

Estrada made the remark on Monday after lawyer Romulo Macalintal asked the SC to revoke Republic Act No. 11935 or the law delaying the BSKE, originally scheduled for December 5, 2022, to the last Monday of October 2023.

READ: SC asked to nullify law postponing 2022 Barangay and SK polls

“In a democratic society, everyone has an equal say on any issue, especially on the application of the law. Ang pagsampa ng petisyon sa Korte Suprema ay patunay na nanaig ang demokrasya sa ating bansa. Umaasa ako na papanigan ng kataas-taasang hukuman ang ipinasa naming batas,” the senator said in a statement.

(The filing of the petition before the Supreme Court proves democracy prevails in our country. I hope that the high court will
side with the law that we passed.)

Macalintal, under his petition, pointed out that the Constitution does not allow Congress to defer the BSKE or extend the term of office of barangay officials.

Estrada, however, asserted that the Constitution vests the “Congress with legislative power and we exercised such authority when we moved to defer the holding of the poll exercise this year.”

“Such authority to postpone the barangay elections as well as the Sangguniang Kabataan elections has in fact been exercised thrice in the past prior to the enactment of RA 11935,” the lawmaker said.

He further expressed confidence that the SC would immediately act on the petition, adding that he would defer to the justices’ wisdom.

Estrada earlier filed a bill seeking to postpone the BSKE to December 2023.

READ: Jinggoy Estrada wants to postpone barangay, SK polls to December 2023

During the bicameral conference committee, the Senate and House of Representatives agreed to defer the BSKE on the last Monday of October 2023.

READ: Senate ratifies bill postponing barangay, SK polls to October 2023

je/abc