Bislig Today reported in July that the Commission on Elections had confirmed the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections would proceed as scheduled on November 2, run manually. That confirmation is now being tested. In the first week of August, lawmakers in both chambers of Congress filed new bills seeking to postpone the polls again, this time by up to two years. For Bislig City's 24 barangays, it means the November 2 date candidates and voters have been planning around is, once more, not fully settled.
What was filed
According to Philstar and the Manila Bulletin, at least three House bills reached first reading in early August. House Bill 10583 proposes moving the elections to May 2027, while House Bills 10584 and 10591 push for November 2028 instead. Roughly 60 House members backing the delay cited what they called an "energy emergency," pointing to fuel price increases tied to the ongoing US-Iran conflict in the Middle East and arguing that holding elections more often than every five years is too costly under current conditions.
In the Senate, Senator Francis Escudero filed Senate Bill 2387, which does not propose a delay outright but would extend the term of barangay and SK officials from four years to five, on the reasoning that longer terms give local leaders more time to carry out community programs.
None of these bills have been passed. VeraFiles, a fact-checking outlet, has noted that the House has not approved any measure moving the election date, and the bills remain at an early stage of the legislative process.
Comelec says it is proceeding
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia has said the commission is prepared to hold the elections on November 2 as the law currently stands. He noted Comelec has already spent roughly ₱8 billion on ballots, ballpens, and indelible ink, and that postponing an election is a decision for Congress and the President, not the commission. "Postponing the election is not the call of the Comelec," Garcia said, according to Mindanews. "It's the call of our Congress and the Executive Department." As long as no new law changes the date, Comelec says its preparations continue on the current November 2 timeline, the same schedule outlined in Bislig Today's July report.
President Marcos, for his part, has said through the Presidential Communications Office that he is open to a postponement if it would save the government money amid the costs tied to the Middle East crisis, though he has not signed anything committing to a new date.
Pushback from election watchdogs
The proposal has drawn criticism from the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), which issued a position paper opposing House Bill 10376 and similar measures. Namfrel argued that Congress already reset the election date once, through Republic Act 12232 in 2025, and that revisiting it again "would signal to future Congresses that election dates are negotiable whenever it is politically convenient." A #NoToBSKEPostponement campaign has also circulated online in response to the bills.
What this means for Bislig
For now, nothing has changed for Bislig City's own calendar. Certificate of candidacy filing is still set for September 28 to October 5, and the campaign period for October 22 to 31, as Bislig Today outlined in July. Anyone planning to run for barangay captain, kagawad, or SK seats in any of the city's 24 barangays should continue preparing on that basis unless Congress passes a bill that actually changes the law.
Bislig Today will follow up if the postponement bills advance beyond first reading, or if Comelec issues any updated guidance for local election officers.