A proposed five-year term for barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials could end the recurring cycle of postponing village and youth elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.
Under the proposal, barangay and SK officials would serve five years instead of the current four-year term and move the next regular elections to November 2028.
Comelec is considering the measure as a way to prevent barangay and SK polls from repeatedly overlapping with national and local elections.
‘For the longest time, it comes to a point when they coincide, and when they coincide, this is used as a reason to request that the elections be moved,’ Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said.
Despite being local polls, barangay and SK elections require nationwide logistics and preparations, Laudiangco said.
‘Even if these are barangay and SK elections, the logistics and preparation cover the entire country,’ he said.
A five-year cycle would also keep barangay and SK elections(BSKE) from falling within the same year as national and local elections, according to the poll body.
Such a setup would give local officials a more predictable election calendar and reduce the likelihood of another congressional intervention to move the polls.
Senate Bill No. 2387 contains the proposal, seeking to amend Republic Act No. 12232 by setting the term of barangay and SK officials at five years.
The Senate Committee on Local Government has approved the measure for preparation of a committee report, alongside a separate proposal seeking to postpone the Nov. 2 BSKE.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is also expected to consider a counterpart measure, with Comelec saying it will follow whatever law Congress ultimately approves.
‘We will abide by the law. Whatever the decision of Congress is, we will follow,’ the spokesperson said.
Comelec is seeking clarity from lawmakers by September as preparations continue for the scheduled November polls.
Planned training for teachers who will serve as election workers is among the reasons for the urgency, as transportation, meals and other expenses could no longer be recovered if the elections are moved.
‘If we proceed with the training, that would be an additional expense that Comelec can no longer recover,’ he said.
Previously procured ballots, ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia could still be used if the elections are reset, while training expenses would already have been incurred.
Comelec has allocated P19.57 billion for the 2026 BSKE, with about P8 billion already spent, obligated or earmarked for election preparations, according to Comelec Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia.