The Senate’s approval came a week after the House of Representatives approved its counterpart measure by an overwhelming vote of 211. The House bill received 13 negative votes and one abstention.
Selected lawmakers from the House and the Senate will form the bicameral conference committee to iron out the diverging provisions of the two bills before being sent to Malacañang for the President’s signature.
Both bills seek to move the upcoming BSKE to the second Monday of November 2028, even as the Commission on Elections has already spent a staggering P8 billion on preparations, P200 million of which could no longer be recovered.
The amounts formed part of the P19.57 billion in total allocations received by Comelec to conduct this year’s BSKE, which had been postponed since 2023.
Comelec chair George Garcia earlier told Congress that the poll body is all set for the BSKE, noting that over P7 billion worth of electoral materials have already been printed. He assured lawmakers that the printed materials would not go to waste, as they could still be used in a subsequent election if Congress deferred this year’s BSKE.
Under the Senate’s version of the bill, elected barangay officials could only run for two consecutive terms in the same position, while elected SK officials are restricted to a maximum of a one-year term in the same position.
If an SK official leaves office, the vacancy may be filled by appointment, provided that the qualifications for SK are met on the day of appointment.
The proposed provision, however, exempts the SK chairperson, whose seat could only be filled through the succession of an SK member who obtained the highest number of votes in the election.
Under the Senate bill, the Comelec could use unspent funds for the postponed BSKE to cover preparatory activities for the 2028 presidential and local elections.
Senator Chiz Escudero, the bill’s sponsor, believed that a five‑year term fror “will strengthen barangay governance” and give our local leaders a long and uninterrupted period to deliver meaningful programs.
He maintained that such a reform is crucial, considering that the barangay is the first line of public service and the closest to the public.
“Barangays are planners, implementers, first responders, peacekeepers, and frontline service providers—all at a level where government interacts directly with households and families,” Escudero said.
Aquino and Pangilinan argued that BSKE should push through because a delay deprives the voting public of their rights to choose a new set of effective leaders. Moreover, Aquino pointed out that many of the incumbent SKs are already eager to run for higher office.
The last BSKE was held in 2023, although it had been scheduled earlier and postponed four times since 2016.
Last week, 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, thereby postponing the December 2025 BSKE to 2 November this year.
Sotto, meanwhile, contended that the bill does not meet the criteria provided by the Supreme Court in Comelec v. Macalintal for a valid BSKE postponement.
He also insisted that there is no excuse to defer the BSKE this time, since the Comelec is all set for the polls and has spent P8 billion of the P19.57 billion allocated for the elections.
Both Sotto and Villanueva argued that fixing a five-year term does not necessitate canceling this year’s BSKE, saying that the new five-year term could be applied to the officials elected on 2 November.
