The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has ordered the immediate halt of all preparations for the Nov. 2, 2026 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed a law postponing the polls to 2028 and extending the terms of incumbent officials by two years.
In a resolution issued Sept. 25, 2026 following an executive session, the seven-member Comelec en banc ordered the “cessation of all activities” tied to the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), citing Republic Act 12326, which Marcos signed into law that same day.
The law amends RA 12232 and fixes the terms of barangay officials and SK members at five years, doing away with the three-year terms that had been in place. It sets the next regular barangay and SK elections for the second Monday of November 2028, and every five years afterward.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia and Commissioners Aimee Ferolino, Rey Bulay, Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda Jr., Nelson Celis, Maria Norina Tangaro-Casingal and Noli Pipo approved the recommendations contained in a memorandum from Deputy Executive Director for Operations Rafael Olaño, who heads the poll body’s 2026 BSKE Project Management Office.
The commission had already begun preparing for the elections, issuing resolutions on the calendar of activities and prohibited acts, printing ballots, procuring election paraphernalia and constituting electoral boards before the new law took effect.
Under the resolution, the Comelec ordered:
— an immediate stop to all activities related to the Nov. 2 BSKE, including the scheduled filing of certificates of candidacy and the campaign period that was to follow;
— the lifting of prohibitions on certain acts tied to the calendar of activities for the canceled polls;
— continued printing of additional ballots and accountable election forms until the allocated quantities are reached;
— completion of pending procurement and delivery of BSKE-related forms and supplies;
— proper storage and preservation of all printed and procured election paraphernalia for future use; and
— resumption of voter registration for the 2028 National and Local Elections beginning the second week of November.
RA 12326 also bars barangay officials from serving more than two consecutive terms in the same position and limits SK officials to a single term, with voluntary renunciation of office not counted as an interruption of continuous service.
The law adds a provision allowing vacancies in SK membership to be filled through appointment by the city or municipal mayor with jurisdiction over the barangay concerned, subject to qualifications set under the SK Reform Act of 2015. It also directs the Department of the Interior and Local Government, in coordination with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the Comelec, state universities and colleges and other government agencies, to institutionalize continuing training and capacity-building programs for barangay and SK officials.
Under a transitory provision, incumbent elective barangay officials will be considered to have completed one term in their respective positions because of the two-year extension.
Officials serving what would be their last term under the new rules will be ineligible to run for the same position in the 2028 elections.
The law clarifies that the term extension does not shield incumbents from pending or future administrative, civil or criminal cases, and that officials facing such cases may still be barred from sitting during the transition period by order of the courts or other competent authorities.
Any unspent balance of the funds appropriated for the 2026 BSKE will be carried over as a continuing funding source for the Comelec to cover preparations for the 2028 National and Local Elections, the law states.
RA 12326 was passed by the Senate as Senate Bill 2387 on Sept. 14 and adopted by the House of Representatives as an amendment to House Bill 10971 on Sept. 16, before being signed by Marcos and taking effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette on Sept. 25.