Comelec cannot set new poll date for postponed barangay polls — Garcia

MANILA — The Commission on Elections has no power to set a new date for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls that were supposed to be held on November 2 but were postponed, Chairman George Garcia said Thursday.

He said this after election lawyer Romulo Macalintal filed a motion for partial reconsideration on the Supreme Court’s decision affirming the constitutionality of Republic Act 12326 extending the terms of barangay officials to five years and setting the next elections on Nov. 13, 2028.

Macalintal asked the SC to direct the Comelec to conduct the BSKE at the “earliest practicable date.”

Garcia said even if the SC reconsiders its decision, Comelec only had until the original election day of November 2 to set a new date for the polls. 

“Ang Kongreso na ang magsasabi kung kailan isasagawa ang naturang halalan kung magbabago ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema,” he added.

(It will be Congress that will set the date of the elections in case the Supreme Court reconsiders its decision.)

Garcia said election paraphernalia that were prepared for the cancelled Nov. 2 polls have been in safekeeping and may still be used for the next BSKE.

The Comelec meanwhile opened voter registration for the 2028 polls on Monday, November 10.

Garcia said there were around 80,000 registrants for the first two days of registration across the country, which he said is higher than the first two days of the last voter registration.

“Sadya, blockbuster. Halos hindi kapani-paniwala,” he said.

(It was a blockbuster. We could hardly believe it.)

The poll body initially expected around three million registrants until the end of registration on July 30, 2027. But Garcia said the target may be surpassed with the current rate of registrants.