The Senate joint panels on local government and finance on Tuesday sought the schedule of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to be moved from the first Monday of November 2026 to the second week of November 2028.
Members of the panels jointly submitted on Tuesday Committee Report no. 77 also recommending the approval of the bill fixing the term of office of barangay and SK officials to five years.
They also took into consideration the measure seeking to postpone the 2026 BSKE polls.
The committees, through their joint report, proposed that the date of the BSKE be postponed to the second Monday of November 2028, instead of the first Monday of 2026.
It also amended that the elections be held every five years thereafter, and not every four years.
Should the proposed measure be approved, the incumbent barangay and SK officials will, thereby, extend their term by another two years.
Moreover, incumbent officials already serving their third consecutive term will be ineligible for vying for the same position in the 2028 BSKE polls.
Head of the committee on local government Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero sponsored the measure at the plenary, urging the Senate to expedite the passing of the bill or otherwise.
‘I ask that the body act on this bill with urgency, for or against it, given that the barangay elections are scheduled to be conducted this November, and where the filing of certificates of candidacy are slated already in the coming month,’ Escudero said.