THE GOVERNMENT of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. should heed the Supreme Court (SC) ruling that voided the law postponing this year’s village and youth council elections, political analysts said on Wednesday.
“The decision provided a clear and coherent outline about postponing elections and both Congress and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should adhere to these guidelines,” Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a lawyer and policy analyst, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
“This is not just in regard to the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections but for all elections in the future,” he said. “This decision should deter our political leaders from ever contemplating postponing an election.”
Comelec Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia on Tuesday said they would not change preparations for the elections. “The decision is more addressed to the political departments of our government for future guidance,” he said.
In its decision, the tribunal said there was no compelling reason to delay the vote. “There was no legitimate government interest or objective to support the legislative measure,” it said in a statement, citing the decision written by Associate Justice and former Election Commissioner Antonio T. Kho, Jr.
“The law unconstitutionally exceeds the bounds of Congress’ power to legislate,” it added.
The court also set village and youth elections on every first Monday of December starting in 2025.
“The decision itself is a victory for democracy,” Mr. Yusingco said. “Holding genuine periodic elections is an integral element of our democracy and cannot simply be set aside by Congress.”
Mr. Marcos in October signed into law setting the village elections, which were originally scheduled for December last year, on the last day of Monday of October 2023 and every three years thereafter.
Cleve Kevin Robert V. Arguelles, president of WR Numero Research and a political science professor at De La Salle University, said Congress “abused its power” when it postponed the elections.
“It should be clear to Congress that they cannot make it a habit of delaying any elections in this country to protect their political interests and partisan considerations,” he said in a Viber chat.
Albay Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, who voted against the measure, said the tribunal’s decision showed that transferring funds “earmarked for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to pandemic response violates the constitutional ban on transfer of funds.”
The ruling “will now foreclose any capricious and unnecessary attempt of Congress to postpone future village and youth council elections,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Yusingco also said the public should take the decision as a “signal that we need to be utterly responsible in exercising our right to vote.”
Arjan P. Aguirre, who teaches political science at the Ateneo De Manila University, said postponing elections has “long been politicized.”
“They promise long and extended tenure of office for barangay officials, with the condition that they give their support during an approaching electoral cycle,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz