This year’s Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) will be postponed from December to November 2026, pending President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. (PBBM)’s signing of the bill that moves the polls late next year before the Christmas season, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced on Thursday, July 31.
According to DILG secretary Juanito Victor ‘Jonvic’ Remulla Jr., the President is expected to sign the proposal advancing the BSKE in order to standardize term limits, allowing barangay (village) chairmen and councilors (kagawad) to serve two consecutive four-year terms while SK officials would be limited to a single four-year term.
Remulla explained that the adjustment aims to align term lengths, particularly since current officials have only served two years due to previous election delays.
The last BSKE were held in October 2023 following multiple postponements.
The local government chief disclosed that pushing through the BSKE in December would shorten the current officials’ term to just two years instead of the mandated three years.
He likewise dismissed concerns that the term adjustments violate a 2023 Supreme Court ruling, which struck down a law shortening elected officials’ terms, saying they were just “equalizing the term lengths.”
Despite the Remulla’s announcement, however, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) emphasized that, as of now, there is no official postponement yet.
Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia asserted that preparations for the December 1, 2025 polls continue under Comelec Resolution 11132.
“As of (now), there is no information from Malacañang about a law postponing the Barangay and SK elections or extending the term of current officials,” Garcia told the media in a statement to clarify the issue.
Meanwhile, voter registration for the elections will proceed beginning tomorrow, August 2, until the 10th of this month, with Comelec targeting at least one million new registrants. Garcia added that the poll body is prepared to defend the 2025 schedule before the Supreme Court if necessary.
In recent years, the BSKE had faced multiple postponements. Originally set for 2022, the polls was delayed to 2023 after legislative interventions. In June that year, the Supreme Court then ruled that the postponement law was unconstitutional but allowed the elections to proceed, scheduling the next one for 2025.
Earlier proposals sought to move the elections to 2026 to avoid overlapping with the 2025 midterm elections. Lawmakers also pushed for longer terms of up to six years for barangay officials as a means of ensuring stability in local governance.
But election watchdogs and legal groups opposed further delays, warning against extending terms without the electorate’s consent.
