MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) en banc on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of Republic Act 12232, which sets the term of office of barangay officials and members of the Sangguniang Kabataan to four years.
In a decision written by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez, the High Court denied the consolidated petitions questioning the constitutionality of the law that rescheduled the December 1, 2025 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataaan Elections (BSKE) to November 2026 and every four years thereafter.
In upholding the law, the SC ruled that the Constitution grants Congress the authority to set the term duration of barangay officials who are “not bound by the general three-year term limit that applies to other elective local officials. This legislative power is not merely permissive; it makes Congress the sole body empowered to define the term of office of barangay officials.”
“Further, under the doctrine of necessary implication, this authority to define the term of office of barangay officials necessarily includes the power to decide when the new term begins, provided that the period is reasonable and not unduly long from the law’s enactment,” it added.
The SC clarified that RA 12232 is fundamentally a term-setting law for BSK officials, establishing a four-year term and prohibiting consecutive terms for the Sangguniang Kabataan officials. “It is not a law postponing elections; the rescheduling of the elections is merely incidental,” it pointed out.
The SC also ruled that the law does not violate the public’s right to vote, as “it neither abolishes nor indefinitely suspends the BSK elections. It simply changes the interval from three to four years and that elections remain regular, periodic, and certain, RA 12232 is not discriminatory,” it explained.
“A law treating barangay officials differently does not amount to undue favor or discrimination when such treatment is expressly allowed by the Constitution,” the SC added. (With PNA)