Residents cast their vote during the 2025 midterm elections at a basketball court in Barangay Batasan Hills, Quezon City on May 12, 2025. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA (UPDATED) — The Commission on Elections cancelled its activities relating to the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed a law postponing the November 2 polls.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said this includes the filing of certificates of candidacy supposedly scheduled on September 28 - October 5.
The prohibition on social services and public works was also lifted.
The poll body’s en banc released a resolution on Friday, September 25 detailing the scope of cancellation.
Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act 12326 on September 24 but only made public a day after, fixing the term of village and SK officials to five years and rescheduling the polls to November 13, 2028.
SC PETITIONS
Election watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) expressed dismay on the law’s enactment, saying it is seriously considering going to the Supreme Court to challenge the measure.
The group earlier urged Marcos Jr. to veto the measure, calling it unconstitutional and “in direct contrast with the principle of accountability.”
LENTE Executive Director Atty. Ona Caritos argued that postponing the polls should follow the guidelines set by the Supreme Court in its first Macalintal vs. Comelec ruling.
“Kung meron tayong gobyerno na kilala at nakakasalamuha sa pang araw-araw ay yan yung barangay and SK officials natin so ‘yan yung masamang implikasyon na tinatanggalan tayo ng karapatang nating pumili ng mga nararapat na opisyal natin sa barangay level,” she said in an interview Friday.
Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal also expressed intent to challenge the measure before the High Court, as he lamented what he calls ‘rapid’ enactment of the law.
“With due respect, the President was ill-advised in signing this law. The administration failed to realize—or conveniently ignored—the compounding effect of this measure: a massive three-year total postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) and a corresponding three-year unauthorized term extension for incumbent officials,” Macalintal said in a statement.
Macalintal argued that the three-year hiatus ‘stripped’ millions of Filipino voters of their fundamental right of suffrage, “governed instead by local officials effectively thrust upon us through legislative appointment rather than the ballot”.
“Because this measure strikes at the heart of our democracy and reflects a grave abuse of discretion, voters like me are left with no choice but to bring this matter before the Supreme Court via a Petition for Certiorari,” the lawyer said.
Macalintal expressed “trust that the highest court will uphold the supremacy of the Constitution and protect the sovereign right of the people to choose their leaders on time.”
Expecting the challenge before the SC, Garcia emphasized they are mandated to follow the law.
“Hanggat hindi po tayo pinapahinto o hindi po tayo nakakakuha ng kahit anong restraining order mula sa Korte Suprema, we have to maintain the status quo,” he said in an ambush interview on Friday, September 25.
“Kung anu't ano man po ang mangyayari sa mga susunod na araw, then diyan lang po ako kikilos at gagawa ng karampatang aksyon ang inyong Commission on Elections,” he added.
The poll body spent P8 billion for the November 2026 BSKE polls, according to Garcia.
The remaining P11 billion budget allotted for the village elections this year will instead be used for the preparation of the 2028 national and local elections.
For the meantime, Comelec will ‘safekeep’ the printed ballots in their warehouses.
Voter registration will resume on the second week of November until July 30, 2027.