Marcos to sign postponement of 2025 BSKE

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to sign into law a proposed bill seeking to postpone the 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Friday.

Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said Malacañang informed the poll body of the law signing to be held on Tuesday, August 12.

“In-inform po tayo ng Palasyo na magkaron ng formal signing ng law on BSKE fixing of term and postponement sa August 12 at 2 p.m.,” said Garcia.

(The Palace informed us of the formal signing of a law fixing the BSKE term and postponing the elections on August 12 at 2 p.m.)

When asked when President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. will sign the bill, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said the public should wait for the Chief Executive's action on the matter.

''Okay, kung hindi ako nagkakamali, parang August 14 po ang pinaka-deadline, so hintayin na lamang po kung ano po ang magiging aksyon ng Pangulo patungkol po dito sa bill na iyan,'' Castro said.

(If I'm not mistaken, the deadline is on August 14. So let's just wait for the action of the President as regards this bill.)

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin responded, ''most likely'' when asked about the matter.

The 2025 BSKE is initially set on December 1, 2025.

However, the Congress, in June, ratified a bicameral conference committee report seeking to extend the term of office for the barangay and SK officials from three to four years, and postpone the elections to the first Monday of November 2026.

Garcia earlier said there were “no indications” from Malacañang the proposed measure will be vetoed despite the pending decision of Marcos.

“Ang Comelec tinuloy namin kasi lahat ng paghahanda eh…Hindi kami hihinto hanggat hindi maliwanag na maliwanag na hindi tuloy ang elections sa December 1, 2025,” he said. 

(The Comelec continued with its preparations and we will not stop until we are sure that the December 1, 2025 elections will be suspended.)

Voter registration

The Comelec launched the ten-day nationwide voter registration for the 2025 BSKE on Friday, August 1. It will run until August 10.

“Hindi titigil ang Comelec sa ating registration. Itutuloy nating ang lahat ng ito sa sampung araw. Bakit? Kasi kahit mapirmahan ng Pangulo, may pupunta sa Korte Suprema. Hindi naman sa pine-preempt natin ang action ng SC pero kung paano kung bigla kaming i-TRO sa pagco-conduct ng elections tapos hindi kami naghanda at wala tayong registration?" Garcia said.

(The Comelec will not stop with the registration. We will continue. Why? Because after the signing of the law, someone may question it before the SC. We are not preempting their decision, but what if the court issues a TRO against the elections and we did not prepare and failed to conduct voter registration?)

“Maganda na ituloy-tuloy na lang natin tutal kung matapos ang registration hanggang August 10, pwede namin muling ituloy ito mula October hanggang July next year,” he added. 

(It would be best to continue until August 10 because we can continue with the voter registration in October until July next year.)

1 million voters registered

The Comelec said it is targeting to register one million voters during the 10-day voter registration period. 

“1 million ang ating ine-expect na madadagdag sa sampung araw na registration. Kalahati man lang sana nun kabataan at kalahati, regular na botante,” said Garcia. 

(We’re eyeing to register 1 million voters during the 10-day period. We’re hoping half of it will be youth voters and the other half, regular voters.)—BAP/GMA Integrated News