Romulo B. Macalintal v. Office of the President, et al. — Decision — Official PDF

Decision 3 G.R. No. E-08557 The Petition assailing the constitutionality of Republic Act No. 12326 was filed in the context of challenges to other similar laws. On June 27, 2023, this Court, in Macalintal v. COMELEC® (2023 Macalintal), declared Republic Act No. 11935 6 unconstitutional for violating substantive due process and the right of suffrage, and for grave abuse of discretion. We enumerated guidelines for determining future laws or rules postponing elections and allowed the October 30, 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to proceed.” Subsequently, on August 13, 2025, Republic Act No. 12232° was signed into law. It prescribed four-year terms, a maximum of three consecutive terms for barangay officials and one term for Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials in the same position. It scheduled the next BSKE 943 Phil. 212 (2023) [Per J. Kho, Jr., En Banc}. An Act Postponing the December 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 9164, as Amended, Appropriating Funds Therefor, and for Other Purposes. 7 The Court listed the following criteria to serve as guidelines in the determination of the validity of any future laws or miles postponing elections in 2023 Macalintal: 1. The right of suffrage requires the holding of honest, genuine, regular, and periodic elections. Thus, postponement of the elections is the exception. 2. The postponement of the elections must be justified by reasons sufficiently important, substantial, or compelling under the circumstances: a. The postponement must be intended to guarantee the conduct of free, honest, orderly, and safe elections; b. The postponement must be intended to safeguard the electorate's right of suffrage; c. The postponement must be intended to safeguard other fundamental rights of the electorate; or d. Such other important, substantial, or compelling reasons that necessitate the postponement of the elections, i.e., necessitated by public emergency, but only if and to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation. i. Reasons such as election fatigue, purported resulting divisiveness, shortness of existing term, and/or other superficial or farcical reasons, alone, may not serve as important, substantial, or compelling reasons to justify the postponement of the elections. To be sufficiently important, the reason for the postponement must primarily be justified by the need to safeguard the right of suffrage or other fundamental rights or required by 2 public emergency Situation. 3. The electorate must still be guaranteed an effective opportunity to enjoy their right of suffrage without unreasonable restrictions notwithstanding the postponement of the elections. 4. The postponement of the elections is reasonably appropriate for the purpose of advancing sufficiently important, substantial, or compelling governmental reasons. a. The postponement of the elections must be based on genuine reasons and only on objective and reasonable criteria. b. The postponement must still guarantee that the elections will be held at regular periodic intervals that are not unduly long. i. The intervals must still ensure that the authority of the government continues to be based on the free expression of the will of the electorate. ii. Hoiding the postponed elections at a date so far remote from the original elections date may serve as badge of the unreasonableness of the interval that may render questionable the genuineness of the reasons for the postponement. c. The postponement of the elections is reasonably narrowly tailored only to the extent necessary to advance the government interest. 5. The postponement must not violate the Constitution or existing laws. An Act Setting the Term of Office of Barangay Officials and Members of the Sangguniang Kabataan, and for Other Purposes. 6 g