By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente “Tito” Sotto III is opposing a proposal to move the November 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to 2028, saying voters should be allowed to choose their local leaders as scheduled.
Sotto raised his objection Wednesday during Senate deliberations on Senate Bill No. 2387, sponsored by Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero. The measure seeks to establish a five-year fixed term for barangay and SK officials and defer the next elections to November 2028.
Sotto said extending the terms should be balanced against the public’s right to elect officials who would receive a fresh mandate.
“Fixing the terms of our barangay officials to five years must be balanced with the interest of the voting public to elect a new mandate… I hope that the November 2026 elections will push through and just apply the new fixed term prospectively if possible,” Sotto said.
He noted that the previous BSKE was held in 2023 and that the next elections, originally scheduled for 2025, were postponed to November 2026 after the terms of incumbent officials were extended to four years.
Sotto warned that another postponement would further prolong the tenure of officials who were elected in 2023 without having to seek a new mandate from voters.
The senator also cited several administrative and disciplinary cases involving barangay officials as part of his argument for allowing voters to make a fresh choice of local leaders.
He further questioned whether repeatedly moving the elections could raise concerns over the manipulation of election schedules to favor particular political interests.
Escudero, in response, noted that barangay and SK elections have been postponed seven times since 2005.
He said that if the proposed measure is approved, the five-year term would apply to incumbent officials, with the extended tenure counting as one of the two terms they could serve under the proposed framework.
Escudero also pointed to existing remedies against erring officials, including the recall process, which allows voters to seek the removal of elected local officials.
Sotto nevertheless maintained that the November 2026 BSKE should proceed, keeping the decision on who should lead their barangays and communities in the hands of the voters.
ia/xf
