The next barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan will be held in 2025 after the Supreme Court denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to move the next poll to 2026.
In a message to reporters, Comelec chairman George Garcia said they welcomed the decision of the SC, adding that the poll body is prepared to conduct elections "anytime, anywhere."
"It's not our duty to question the law, more so disobey it. As it stands now, BSKE is a go by Oct. 30, 2023 and Dec. 2025 is the next one. The SC have spoken. It has the last say on the issue of constitutionality of laws and actions of officialdom," Garcia said.
In its motion, the poll body said that since BSKE will be held in October 2023, the next election should be done three years later since the term of village officers is three years, which will fall in 2026.
But in its ruling, the Supreme Court said: "Since the term of office of the sitting BSKE officials shall be deemed to have ended on December 31, 2022 (as explained in the Decision), the 'term' of office of the October 2023 winning candidates shall be deemed to have begun thereafter pursuant to RA 11462."
The high court in June declared the law postponing the synchronized Barangay and Sanguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) unconstitutional but ordered that BSKE slated for October 2023 shall proceed.
The BSKE was supposed to be conducted last December 2022 but was moved to the last Monday of October 2023.
