SC challenge eyed as barangay, SK elections reset to 2028
MANILA(September 28) — THE decision to move the next barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to 2028 has put the grassroots electoral mandate on hold for at least two more years, drawing opposition from election watchdogs and civic groups and prompting election lawyer Romulo Macalintal to prepare a Supreme Court challenge.
Macalintal said he will file a petition questioning the reset, arguing that the postponement results in an unreasonable extension of the terms of incumbent barangay and SK officials.
The move means the next grassroots elections will now be held in the same year as the presidential and national elections, allowing incumbent local officials to remain in office while national political parties and candidates prepare for the 2028 polls.
For the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), the issue is not simply a matter of adjusting the election calendar.
“Elections are not administrative exercises that can simply be moved whenever politically convenient. They are the means by which citizens periodically renew — or withdraw — the mandate of those who govern them,” CenPEG chairperson Roland Simbulan said.
CenPEG said the postponement delays voters’ opportunity to decide whether incumbent barangay and SK officials should continue in office.
Simbulan also argued that retaining the existing barangay political configuration could give the administration additional time to strengthen political relationships and grassroots machinery ahead of the 2028 presidential and national elections.
That, however, is CenPEG’s political assessment and not an established finding.
Third BSKE reset under Marcos
The latest postponement is the third time the barangay elections have been moved under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. since he assumed office in 2022.
In October 2022, Marcos signed Republic Act 11935, moving the December 2022 BSKE to October 2023. The Supreme Court later declared the law unconstitutional.
In August 2025, Marcos signed Republic Act 12232, moving the next BSKE from December 2025 to November 2026 and setting a four-year term for barangay and SK officials.
Republic Act 12326 now replaces that four-year cycle with a five-year term and moves the next elections to November 2028.
The law also provides that incumbent barangay officials already serving their final consecutive term will not be eligible to seek the same position in 2028. Their extended tenure will be treated as the completion of one term for purposes of term limits.
The August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM) also opposed the latest postponement, arguing that repeated delays should not become a normal feature of the country’s electoral system.
“From whatever standpoint you view this recent postponement again of the local barangay elections recently signed by Marcos Jr., it remains undemocratic and against the spirit of democracy,” ATOM said.
The group also pointed to three barangay election postponements during the Duterte administration, arguing that both administrations had made repeated election resets part of the political landscape.
Namfrel questions timing
The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) likewise expressed dismay, particularly over the timing of the new law.
Namfrel said the measure was made public on September 25, only days before the scheduled filing of certificates of candidacy on September 28.
The watchdog said it had twice publicly urged Congress and the Executive — on April 17 and August 5, 2026 — to reject another postponement.
“That these repeated warnings went unheeded is deeply troubling. That the law was rushed to enactment just ahead of the filing period is more troubling still,” Namfrel said.
President Marcos defended the postponement on Friday, saying the additional time would allow local officials to improve service delivery, complete programs already underway and focus more intently on the needs of communities, families and the youth.
Namfrel rejected that reasoning.
The election watchdog said concerns over fiscal pressure and the efficiency and accountability of frontline services should instead strengthen the case for a renewed mandate for barangay leadership, rather than extending the tenure of officials without another vote from the electorate.
The controversy now shifts to the courts, where the planned Supreme Court petition could test the legal limits of repeatedly postponing grassroots elections and extending the tenure of elected barangay and SK officials.
At stake is not only the new election timetable but when Filipino voters will next be given the opportunity to renew — or withdraw — their grassroots mandate.
