ANTONIETTE V.C. MONTESCLAROS, ET AL. v.

COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS,
ET AL.
G.R. No. 152295, July 9, 2002

FACTS
The petitioners, who are all 20 years old, filed a petition to prevent the postponement of
the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections scheduled for May 6, 2002. The petition also aimed to
prevent the reduction of the age requirement for membership in the SK. The petitioners alleged
that the postponement and reduction of the age requirement would disenfranchise and
discriminate against youths aged 18 to 21 years old who are members of the SK. The SK is a
youth organization established by Presidential Decree No. 684 and later renamed as SK by the
Local Government Code of 1991. The Comelec issued resolutions to govern the SK elections
scheduled for May 6, 2002. However, Congress enacted RA No. 9164, which postponed the SK
elections to July 15, 2002, and reduced the age requirement for SK membership. The petitioners
argued that they have a right to participate in the SK elections and hold public office reserved for
SK members, and the postponement and reduction of the age requirement violated their rights.

ISSUE
1. Whether respondents acted illegally and unconstitutionally in intending to postpone the SK
elections.

RULING
The petition was dismissed for lack of merit. The Court found no actual controversy
requiring judicial intervention as the SK elections were reset to July 15, 2002, which was
acceptable to the petitioners. The Court held that petitioners failed to raise a justiciable
controversy regarding the constitutionality of the proposed bill to lower the age requirement for
SK membership. It was ruled that public office is not a property right, and petitioners did not
have a vested right to SK membership or public office. The Court found no grave abuse of
discretion in the postponement of the SK elections, as the Comelec acted within its constitutional
powers. The hold-over provision in RA No. 9164 does not perpetuate incumbent SK officers in
power indefinitely, as they would cease to hold office after the July 15, 2002 elections.