Wishing for ‘gold standard’
Despite isolated incidents of violence and botched cheating attempts, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia proudly reported the Philippines earned the “gold standard” from international election bodies for the successful holding of the first ever Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Parliamentary elections last Sept. 14.
As the chairman of the seven-man Comelec, Garcia cited world poll bodies were impressed by the more accurate counting at 99.9581 percent accuracy; faster transmission of results with next day proclamation of winners and the highest 83.54 percent turnout of voters at the just concluded BARMM Parliamentary elections.
Such plaudits come auspiciously as the Comelec officially assumes its chairmanship in the General Assembly of Association of World Electoral Bodies (AWEB) to be held in our country for the first time on Oct.12-17 this year. Garcia will preside as chairman of this year’s general membership meeting of the AWEB composed of 80 countries around the world.
Also for the first time, Garcia added, the General Assembly of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) will be also held here from Oct.16-18. The respective election authorities from the 50 member-countries of the AAEA are attending this meeting, Garcia disclosed at our Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday.
On the same day, the Supreme Court (SC) acted on the petition that questioned a newly signed law that effectively estops the Comelec from holding of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BKSE) set on Nov. 2 this year. The 15-man SC acted swiftly on the petition filed by veteran election lawyer Romulo Macalintal to declare unconstitutional and therefore invalid Republic Act (RA) 12326, or “An Act Fixing the Term of Office of Barangay Officials and Members of the Sangguniang Kabataan to Five (5).” President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) signed this into law last Sept. 24.
Three days later, Macalintal decried to the SC RA 12326 for violating “the electorate’s right to vote” by postponing the 2026 BSKE to November 2028. Under the guise of fixing the officials’ term of office, Macalintal bewailed the newly signed law allowed the hold over in the positions of barangay and SK officials for another three years. Acting on Macalintal’s urgent petition on the 2026 BSKE, the SC ordered all parties concerned, including the Comelec, to submit their respective comments within “a non-extendible period of five calendar days from notice” issued last Wednesday.
It was only in August 2025 that PBBM signed RA 12232 which postponed the BSKE originally set on Dec.1, 2025 to the first Monday of November 2026. The SC affirmed the legality then of the latest BSKE under RA 12232. The petitioners argued RA 12232 is invalid for failing to comply with the guidelines in postponing the 2023 elections in the case of Macalintal v Comelec.
The SC referred to RA 11935 that declared unconstitutional the previously postponed holding of the BSKE from December 2022 to the last Monday of October 2023. Garcia recalled the High Court found there was no legitimate government interest or objective to support the “election fatigue” and that RA 11935 unconstitutionally exceeded the bounds of Congress’ power to legislate.
Garcia strongly took exception to suggestions by some pundits for the Comelec to wait first for the High Court’s final decision before suspending its preparatory activities for the BSKE. In their last check, Garcia noted, RA 12326 complied already with the required publication in the Official Gazette that rendered the new law effective immediately.
“Whether the BSKE pushes through or not, the most important thing for us to do is to ensure registration of all qualified voters. Nobody will be elected if we are not voters. And the first step is to register before we can vote,” Garcia pointed out. As far as the Comelec is concerned, Garcia reassured the public no public funds will be wasted even if the BSKE is postponed again.
At any rate, Garcia stressed the Comelec continues to conduct new national registration of voters until next year before the holding of the next presidential, national and local elections in May 2028. According to him, the Comelec has already spent around P8 billion out of this year’s P19.57-billion budget for the conduct of the BSKE. The remaining P11 billion is yet to be released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), he revealed.
Despite being suspended for now, Garcia lauded the last SK elections held on Oct. 30, 2023. Like the BARMM Parliament elections, the political dynasty ban against second-degree relatives to run for election was first implemented in that SK election.
Garcia noted even outgoing Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo gave special mention on the SK and the BARMM Parliament elections in its writ of mandamus last Sept.16 that ordered the present 20th Congress to pass the enabling law to ban political dynasties in our country. The SC ruled that Congress’ failure to pass an anti-dynasty law for 39 years since the 1987 Constitution is a grave abuse of discretion and a continuing constitutional violation.
If the SK and the BARMM can implement it, why is there no national law up to now to ban political dynasties?
Actually, the first-ever anti-political dynasty provision took effect and was implemented under RA 10742, or the SK Reform Act of 2015. Section 10, or the “anti-dynasty clause” of RA 10742 required that a candidate for the position in the SK must not be related within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to any incumbent elected national official, or to any incumbent elected regional, provincial, city, municipal or barangay official, in the locality where they seek to be elected.
In a ruling handed down in April this year, the SC affirmed the Comelec disqualification against youth candidate in the October 2023 for violating provisions of the SK Reform Law’s anti-dynasty clause. The High Court upheld that such “breathes life to the constitutionally enshrined policy of the sovereign to prohibit political dynasties.”
That’s the “gold standard” that Comelec wishes to earn under the watch of Chairman Garcia.
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