G.R. No. 263590, June 27, 2023
ATTY. ROMULO B. MACALINTAL, PETITIONER, VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, THROUGH EXECUTIVE SECRETARY LUCAS P. BERSAMIN, RESPONDENTS. [G.R. No. 263673] ATTY. ALBERTO N. HIDALGO, ATTY. ALUINO O. ALA, ATTY. AGERICO A. AVILA, ATTY. TED CASSEY B. CASTELLO, ATTY. JOYCE IVY C. MACASA, AND ATTY. FRANCES MAY C. REALINO, PETITIONERS, VS. EXECUTIVE SECRETARY LUCAS P. BERSAMIN, THE SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES, DULY REPRESENTED BY ITS SENATE PRESIDENT, JUAN MIGUEL ZUBIRI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, DULY REPRESENTED BY ITS SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, FERDINAND MARTIN ROMUALDEZ, AND THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, DULY REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN, GEORGE ERWIN M. GARCIA, RESPONDENTS.

FACTS

The consolidated petitions assail the constitutionality of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 11935, which postponed the December 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections. The petitioners argue that Congress has no power to postpone or cancel a scheduled election, contending that this power belongs solely to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) pursuant to Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC). They base this on the powers granted to COMELEC under Sections 2(1) to (3), Article IX-C of the 1987 Constitution.

ISSUE

Whether the power to postpone elections belongs exclusively to the COMELEC, thereby rendering R.A. No. 11935 unconstitutional for being an exercise of a power Congress does not possess.

RULING

The Separate Concurring Opinion of Chief Justice Gesmundo concurs in the result declaring R.A. No. 11935 unconstitutional but provides a detailed analysis on the proper standard to test the validity of laws postponing barangay elections and the interplay between legislative and COMELEC powers.
1. The power of the COMELEC to postpone elections is not constitutionally granted but is merely statutory, based on Sections 5 and 45 of the OEC. These provisions limit the COMELEC’s power to postpone to specific instances involving “serious cause” such as violence, terrorism, force majeure, or analogous causes that make a free, orderly, and honest election impossible in a political subdivision or barangay.
2. The constitutional powers of the COMELEC under Article IX-C, Section 2(1) to (3) are administrative (for paragraphs 1 and 3) and quasi-judicial (for paragraph 2) in nature. None of these powers squarely grant or contemplate the general power to postpone elections. The power under paragraph 1 relates to enforcement and administration of election laws; paragraph 3 relates to logistical details; and paragraph 2 relates to deciding election contests.
3. Congress possesses the inherent, broad, and plenary legislative power, which includes the power to postpone barangay elections. The fact that Congress delegated a limited, specific power to postpone to the COMELEC via statute (the OEC) does not mean it abdicated its own broader legislative power. The COMELEC itself has acknowledged that its postponement power was delegated by Congress.
4. Therefore, the petitioners’ argument that the power to postpone elections belongs exclusively to the COMELEC is misplaced. Congress retains the power to postpone elections through legislation. The concurring opinion agrees with the ponencia’s declaration that Congress’s power extends to the postponement of elections, including at the barangay level.