A politically motivated postponement

IT started as House Bill No. 10971, which the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading on Sept. 8, 2026, with 211 lawmakers voting in favor, 13 against and one abstaining. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed it into law (RA 12326) two weeks later, on Sept. 25, 2026.

The law, which seeks to grant barangay officials a five-year term instead of the existing four-year term, provides for the postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections from Nov. 2 this year to an unspecified date in November 2028.

It also says that barangay officials may serve no more than two consecutive terms in the same position, while SK officials remain limited to one term in the same position.

In reaction, renowned election lawyer Romulo Macalintal petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) and order the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to continue with its preparations for the Nov. 2 schedule.

Macalintal questioned the motive behind this new law, which would allow incumbent barangay and SK officials to “hold over” their positions for three more years, counting from December 2025 to November 2028.

The postponement compelled the Comelec to stop prospective candidates from filing their certificates of candidacy as originally scheduled from Sept. 28 to Oct. 5.

As far as Region 6 is concerned, according to Comelec Regional Director Dennis Ausan, other pre-election activities, such as logistics mapping and office preparations, had been completed.

One more time, eh?

Let us recall that President Marcos had earlier signed on Aug. 13, 2025, a little over one year ago, RA 12232, which set a fixed four-year term for barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials, moving the December 2025 barangay and SK elections to November 2026. The Supreme Court upheld that law, ruling that Congress has the constitutional authority to determine the term of barangay officials.

In effect, we are now facing a second postponement of the elections sought to be held.

“If that is the case,” Macalintal opined, “then this postponement will never end.”

Malacañang responded through Press Officer Claire Castro, “Whatever the Supreme Court orders, we will comply.”

That statement resonates with the notion that the President is not averse to SC review of the questioned law.

But why stop an activity that the Comelec has already partially accomplished?

“The poll body has spent about PHP 8 billion on preparations for the postponed elections,” said Comelec Chairman George Garcia during the poll body’s budget hearing before the Senate.

It is not surprising that most incumbent barangay and SK officials rejoice over the election postponement. It extends their tenure.

On the other hand, it deprives voters of the right to replace those whom they deem unfit to stay in office. We who would otherwise go to the polls in November this year will now have to wait until 2028 before we can decide to retain or kick the incumbents out.

Hence, it may be argued that the postponement will result in an unreasonable extension of the terms of barangay and SK officials. Any postponement that does not serve the public interest serves those who are already in power.

So, aside from the incumbent barangay and SK officials whose terms are extended, who else stands to benefit from the postponement?

Obviously, they are the ruling city, municipal, provincial and national officials, since they could boost their political machinery through barangay and SK officials even if the latter are presumed apolitical or beyond the control of rich and powerful politicians.

We are not too naive to believe in that presumption.