Datu Michael Abas Kida v. Senate of the Philippines, et al.

,
G.R. No. 196271, October 18, 2011

Facts: Several laws pertaining to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) were
enacted by Congress. Republic Act (RA) No. 6734 is the organic act that established the ARMM and
scheduled the first regular elections for the ARMM regional officials. RA No. 9054 amended the
ARMM Charter and reset the regular elections for the ARMM regional officials to the second Monday
of September 2001. RA No. 9140 further reset the first regular elections to November 26, 2001. RA
No. 9333 reset for the third time the ARMM regional elections to the 2 nd Monday of August 2005 and
on the same date every 3 years thereafter. Pursuant to RA No. 9333, the next ARMM regional
elections should have been held on August 8, 2011. COMELEC had begun preparations for these
elections and had accepted certificates of candidacies for the various regional offices to be
elected. But on June 30, 2011, RA No. 10153 was enacted, resetting the next ARMM regular
elections to May 2013 to coincide with the regular national and local elections of the country. In
these consolidated petitions filed directly with the Supreme Court, the petitioners assailed the
constitutionality of RA No. 10153.

Issue: Does the 1987 Constitution mandate the synchronization of elections, including the ARMM
elections?

Held: Yes.

Ruling: The Supreme Court] DISMISSED the petitions and UPHELD the constitutionality of RA No.
10153 in toto. The 1987 Constitution mandates the synchronization of elections. While the
Constitution does not expressly state that Congress has to synchronize national and local elections,
the clear intent towards this objective can be gleaned from the Transitory Provisions (Article XVIII) of
the Constitution, which show the extent to which the Constitutional Commission, by deliberately
making adjustments to the terms of the incumbent officials, sought to attain synchronization of
elections. In this case, the ARMM elections, although called “regional” elections, should be included
among the elections to be synchronized as it is a “local” election based on the wording and structure
of the Constitution. Thus, it is clear from the foregoing that the 1987 Constitution mandates the
synchronization of elections, including the ARMM elections.