Marcos signs law postponing Barangay, SK polls to November 2026
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has signed a new law postponing the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
The polls, initially scheduled for December 2025, will now be held on the first Monday of November 2026, and every four years thereafter.
The new law, known as Republic Act No. 12232, sets the term of office for all elected barangay and SK officials to four years, from the current three years under the Local Government Code of 1991.
It also says that no elective barangay official will serve for more than three consecutive terms or up to 12 years in the same position. No elective SK official, on the other hand, will serve for more than one term in the same position.
"Voluntary renunciation of office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of service for the full term for which the elective official was elected," the law stated.
Earlier in August, Marcos said that he would sign a bill postponing the BSKE during a media forum in Bengaluru, India.
According to him, it is the "most sensible and the most common-sense solution" to focus on the parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in October this year.
Meanwhile, the BSKE voter registration period ended last Aug. 10. Comelec Chairperson George Garcia stated that the purpose is to ensure voter turnout for the village and youth polls, especially among 15 to 17-year-olds.
“Even if the elections don’t happen this year, at least we’ve already registered new voters,” Garcia said at that time.
