Bill extending barangay, SK term to 5 years, postponing 2 November polls, passes Senate second reading

A bill extending the term of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (BSK) officials from four to five years passed the second reading in the Senate on Wednesday, just a day after the House of Representatives passed the counterpart measure.

Although the supposed intent of Senate Bill 2387 and House Bill 10971 is a term reset, opponents of the measures argued that the extension would effectively postpone the BSK Elections scheduled for 2 November, even as the Commission on Elections had already spent P8 billion on preparations.

In his turno en contra speech, strongly opposing SB 2387, Senator Tito Sotto argued that postponing the BSKE for the eighth time is “unconstitutional,” as it deprives the people of their right to choose new leaders.

Additionally, the Senate bill does not meet the criteria provided by the Supreme Court in Comelec v. Macalintal for a valid BSKE postponement, Sotto pointed out.

“The Constitution provides that sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them, thus the right of suffrage…Considering that it is the eighth time, Mr. President, that we have postponed barangay elections, it might give an impression to the public of how little regard we are giving to the unit of government closest to the people,” Sotto asserted.

“Again, the question is, when will we stop, Mr. President?” the former Senate president lamented.

Aside from Sotto, Senators Joel Villanueva, Risa Hontiveros, Kiko Pangilinan, and Bam Aquino also voted against the bill.

Sotto also urged senators to meticulously review the measure before the Senate passes the bill on third reading next week.

The last BSKE was held in 2023, although it had been scheduled earlier and postponed four times since 2016.

Villanueva questioned the need to abruptly extend the term of office of BSK officials again, even though Congress had only passed Republic Act 12232 last year, which extended their term from three to four years.

In effect, the law also postponed BSKE, which was supposedly set for December 2025, to 2 November this year.

Senator Chiz Escudero, the bill’s sponsor, attributed the need to prevent the next BSKE from coinciding with the midterm polls in 2031 to the fact that this has become Congress's convenient excuse for postponing past BSKEs.

“If we examine the bills that postponed [BSKEs], most of them coincide with the national and local elections. Under this proposal to set a five-year term, the elections would coincide with the national and local polls only once, after approximately 15 years. Thereafter, the barangay and SK elections would no longer coincide with any national and local elections for the next two to three decades,” Escudero explained.

Both Sotto and Villanueva agreed that fixing a five-year term does not necessitate canceling this year’s BSKE. Villanueva suggested that the upcoming BSKE proceed as scheduled, while applying the new five-year term to the elected officials.

Meanwhile, Sotto insisted that there is no excuse to defer the BSKE this time, since the Comelec is all set for the polls, having spent a whopping P8 billion of the P19.57 billion allocated for the elections.

“The Comelec is ready and equipped to conduct the November 2026 BSK elections. Thus, I am hopeful that it will proceed,” Sotto said.

During the plenary debates on Tuesday, Escudero admitted that the Comelec could lose roughly P200 million, which the poll body would no longer recover from the P8 billion, should the BSKE be postponed.

Despite opposition from several senators, Senate Bill 2387 hurdled second reading.

Sotto proposed an amendment to disqualify incumbent BSK officials with pending administrative or criminal charges from serving in a holdover and term extension, but Escudero warned of potential “constitutional issues,” citing the equal protection clause.

Unless the official is convicted by a court, they cannot be disqualified merely on the basis of outstanding cases, since political opponents can weaponize such a provision, according to Escudero.

Malacañang is amenable to Congress’ proposal to suspend the BSKE to save P16 billion that the government could use to finance social aid for vulnerable sectors hard hit by the persistent conflict in the Middle East.

This, despite a decision by the SC in 2023 deeming RA 11935, or the law that suspended BSKE 2022 to augment the Executive’s funds, as unconstitutional for transgressing the constitutional prohibition against any transfer of appropriations.