SC upholds 4-year term for Barangay Officials, SK in the reset Nov 2026 polls
By: Nonnette C. Bennett
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Commission on Election (COMELEC) Benguet Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Elenita Tabangin-Capuyan informed media here that the Supreme Court has upheld the law extending from three to four years the term of office of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (BSK) officials, as it affirmed the authority of Congress to determine their length of tenure. It also affirmed the resetting of the elections to November 2026.
In an en banc session on Tuesday 11 November, the high tribunal junked four consolidated petitions questioning the constitutionality of Republic Act No. 12232, the Supreme Court’s Office of the Spokesperson said in a statement.
The full copy of the decision, written by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez, has yet to be made public, according to reports in national media. According to the report, eight of the 15 justices, concurred with the ruling. Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Henri Jean Paul Inting, Antonio Kho Jr., and Maria Filomena Singh dissented, while Associate Justices Ramon Paul Hernando and Amy Lazaro-Javier did not participate.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed RA 12232 in August, postponing the BSK elections originally scheduled for December this year to the first Monday of November 2026. This also set the term of office of all elected barangay and SK officials to four years—from the current three—and provided that subsequent BSK elections would be held every four years.
Capuyan said that registration for new voters resumes at the Commission on Election Baguio City Office.
