Comelec’s preps for BSKE still a go despite postponement

Voters cast their ballots in Nagpayong Elementary School in Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City during the May 12, 2025 national and local elections. —INQUIRER photo/LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the postponement of the 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will not stop its preparations for the elections.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia made this pronouncement on Thursday, a day after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the bill seeking to extend the current three-year term of elected barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials to four years.

In effect, the BSKE that was originally scheduled on December 1, 2025 will be reset to the first Monday of November 2026.

READ: Marcos signs law postponing BSKE to Nov. 2026; officials’ terms extended

“We don’t stop our preparations in the present time even when our president has already signed it,” Garcia said in an interview with DZMM Teleradyo.

“For us, whether it is signed or not, whether it becomes a law or not, whether the Supreme Court will issue a TRO (temporary restraining order) or not, we are still preparing because it is the same level of preparation we have with the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections on October 13,” he explained.

He also said that the postponement poses no effect on the Comelec’s preparations, as the signing of the law is more on the “policy” side, rather than the operational side of the poll body.

Procurement process still a go

Garcia also said that the poll body continues its procurement process for the materials to be used in the elections. He once again raised the possibility of someone questioning the legality of the law before the Supreme Court.

READ: Comelec to ask for more funds if BSKE gets postponed

“We must not stop because this law will have publication to be effective as a law and someone may question its legality before the SC,” he said.

He also reiterated that the poll body will ask for more funds for the BSKE since there are new 2.8 million voter registrants that were not included in the funds they initially requested.

He explained that the poll body will need additional budget for more ballots, precincts, teaching staff and other election materials as the registered voters nationwide grew in numbers.

The 10-day voters’ registration drive, which ran from August 1 to August 10, drew nearly 2.8 million registrations. Garcia previously regarded it as the most number of registrations in the history of Comelec in a short period of time.

Meanwhile, when asked if their registrations were put into waste as the BSKE are postponed, Garcia answered in the negative.

“They can’t vote in December but if their processes are approved, they are already registered voters and they don’t need to register again,” he said.

He previously noted that the voter registrations will still undergo screening by the Election Registration Board. He added that if the registrants did not receive any notice for hearing in their local Comelec offices, their applications are already good to go.

However, if they are called for a hearing as there might be objections to their applications, Garcia advised the registrants to attend. Otherwise, the request of the opposition will be granted. /apl