The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) announced Sunday that it is fully equipped to administer the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) scheduled for November 2, despite newly introduced legislation aiming to extend incumbent terms and postpone the vote to November 2028.
COMELEC Chairperson George Erwin Garcia confirmed during a radio interview that procurement for election materials is finished and additional ballots have already been printed.
“Ang COMELEC po ay handang-handa na magsagawa ng halalan sa November 2,” Garcia said.
The readiness update follows a legislative push by Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who filed Senate Bill 2387 to lengthen the term of office for local village and youth leaders to five years.
Escudero’s measure seeks to amend Republic Act No. 12232—signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in 2025—which currently sets a four-year term limit and mandates regular polls every four years starting the first Monday of November 2026.
Escudero stated in his explanatory note that expanding the term length would foster greater continuity and stability in grassroots governance.
Garcia affirmed that COMELEC respects legislative prerogative regarding term lengths, emphasizing that any poll postponement would merely be a downstream effect of altering statutory terms.
“Siyempre, kinikilala natin ‘yung kapangyarihan na pag-fix ng termino mula apat na taon papunta raw sa limang taon ay absolutely kapangyarihan ng Kongreso. Hindi puwedeng pakialaman ng COMELEC,” Garcia stated.
“Hindi talaga ang issue ay ang postponement, kundi ang pagpapalawig ng termino ng mga nakaupo. Lalabas po ‘yung mismong pagpo-postpone ay consequence or epekto ng pagpapalawig na ‘yan,” he added.
Because the scheduled election falls over the traditional Undas holiday period, COMELEC has also formally requested Malacañang to suspend classes nationwide on November 3, 2026, to allow for a smoother post-election transition in public school polling venues.