Case Summary (G.R. No. 81833)
Separation of Powers and Election Regulation
Legislative power is plenary and extends to election regulation, including setting and postponing election dates. COMELEC’s administrative, quasi-legislative, and quasi-judicial powers under the Constitution and Omnibus Election Code are distinct but subordinate in the realm of election postponement.
Plenary Power to Postpone Elections
Absent an express constitutional limitation, Congress may postpone barangay elections under its power to legislate all matters of general concern. The power to postpone is inherently included in Congress’s authority to fix terms of office for barangay officials (Art. X, Sec. 8) and to enact local government code provisions (Art. X, Sec. 3).
Limitations on Postponement under the OEC
Sections 5 and 45 of the Omnibus Election Code delegate to COMELEC the power to postpone elections only upon serious, unforeseen causes (e.g., violence, terrorism, force majeure) affecting a political subdivision or barangay. COMELEC’s power is geographically and substantively confined, and may be superseded by a general law resetting election dates.
Substantive Due Process and Legitimate State Interest
Any postponement of elections must satisfy substantive due process: it must serve a legitimate or compelling state interest and employ reasonable, narrowly tailored means. A valid public purpose—free and honest elections, public order, or unavoidable public emergency—must underlie such postponement.
Prohibited Transfer of Appropriations
RA 11935’s primary animating purpose—to realign COMELEC’s ₱8.44 billion BSKE appropriation for COVID-19 response and economic programs—violates Article VI, Sec. 25(5) of the Constitution, which prohibits transfers of appropriations except by the President or the heads of constitutional commissions to augment their own budgets from their own savings.
Violation of the Due Process Clause
The law fails substantive due process. It lacks a bona fide rationale for postponement, instead relying on an impermissible reallocation of election funds. Its indefinite extension of officials’ service unduly infringes voters’ right to choose new representatives at regular intervals.
Grave Abuse of Discretion
Congress’s enactment of RA 11935 in pursuit of an illegal appropriation transfer and in disregard of the sanctity of suffrage evidences capricious, arbitrary, and despotic lawmaking, amounting to grave abuse of discretion.
Operative Fact Doctrine and Interim Effects
While RA 11935 is void ab initio, its existence between enactment and judicial nullification produces operative facts that cannot be entirely erased. To avoid chaos and respect de facto situations:
• The October 2023 BSKE proceeds as scheduled under RA 11935.
• Incumbent barangay and SK officials hold over until successors are elected and qualified.
• Term limits conclude December 31, 2022, per RA 11462.
• Subsequent synchronized BSKE returns to December 2025 and every three years thereafter under RA 11462.
Hold-Over Principle Does Not Amount to Legislative Appointment
Hold-over provisions ensure continuity of government functions and do not extend an official’s statutorily fixed term. Term and tenure are
Case Syllabus (G.R. No. 81833)
Facts of the Case
- On October 10, 2022, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. approved RA 11935 postponing the December 5, 2022 synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to the last Monday of October 2023.
- Section 1 reset the BSKE to October 2023 and every three years thereafter; Section 3 authorized incumbents to hold over until successors are elected and qualified.
- Petitioners Atty. Romulo B. Macalintal (G.R. No. 263590) and Atty. Alberto N. Hidalgo et al. (G.R. No. 263673) separately filed petitions for certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, and injunctive relief.
- They challenged RA 11935 as unconstitutional for exceeding Congress’s powers, depriving the electorate of suffrage, effecting legislative appointments, and violating other constitutional guarantees.
Procedural Posture
- G.R. No. 263590 by Atty. Macalintal filed October 17, 2022; G.R. No. 263673 by Atty. Hidalgo et al. filed October 20, 2022.
- The Court required respondents to comment and set oral arguments on October 21, 2022; memoranda were submitted thereafter.
- On October 21, 2022, the petitions were consolidated for joint resolution.
Issues Presented
- Whether Congress has the constitutional power to postpone barangay elections by legislation.
- Whether RA 11935 violates:
• The constitutional separation of powers by encroaching on COMELEC’s autonomy.
• The fundamental right of suffrage by unduly extending incumbents’ terms.
• The constitutional prohibition on transfer of appropriations.
• The rule on single subject and title applicability.
Relevant Constitutional and Statutory Provisions
- 1987 Constitution
• Art. IX-C, Sec. 2: Powers of the Commission on Elections (administrative, quasi-judicial, quasi-legislative).
• Art. X, Secs. 3 and 8: Congress to enact local government code; power to fix term of barangay officials.
• Art. VI, Sec. 25(5): Prohibits transfer of appropriations save for specific reserve authorities. - Omnibus Election Code (B.P. 881)
• Sec. 5 and Sec. 45: COMELEC may postpone elections in any political subdivision for serious causes (violen