Several Facebook users are claiming that the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections will proceed this year. This is not true.
On Sept. 30, a netizen posted a graphic showing the supposed schedule for the BSKE happening on Nov. 2 and claimed that “the elections will push through.”
On the same day, another user claimed that the “elections will proceed,” citing what appears to be a news report on a resolution issued by the Commission on Elections detailing the calendar of activities for the supposed village and youth council polls set for Dec. 1.
A narrator in the clip can be heard saying:
“Inilabas na ng Commission on Elections o COMELEC ang calendar of activities sa mangyayaring [BSKE] sa Disyembre ngayong taon, ayon ito sa COMELEC Resolution 11132. Itinakda ang voter registration mula July 1 hanggang 11. October 1 to 7 naman ang filing ng certificates of candidacy o COC. November 20 hanggang 29 ang campaign period at sa December 1 ang araw ng halalan.
(The COMELEC has released the calendar of activities for this year’s BSKE, according to COMELEC Resolution No. 11132. Voter registration is scheduled from July 1 to 11, while the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) will take place from October 1 to 7. The campaign period is set for November 20 to 20, with the election day scheduled for Dec. 1).”
At least three other users circulated copies of the news clip with the wrong context.
On Oct. 4, a viral post contained a similar claim that “nothing can stop the BSKE anymore,” and even thanked election lawyer Romulo Macalintal as the polls are allegedly proceeding in December 2026.
These are all false. The two posts on Sept. 30 both cited old graphic and news report about the outdated schedules prior to the deferral of BSKE in December 2025 and November 2026.
BSKE 2026 reset questioned in SC
The fraudulent posts surfaced six days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act 12326 on Sept. 24, which canceled the BSKE initially set for Nov. 2 this year and fixed the term of incumbent officials to five years.
Under the law, the BSKE will now be held on the “second Monday of November 2028 and every five years thereafter.” RA 12326 also limited the barangay officials to two consecutive terms while SK officials are limited to a single term.
The postponement law has since been challenged before the Supreme Court. On Sept. 27, Macalintal filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition challenging the constitutionality of RA 12326. He also asked the SC for a temporary restraining order and/or status quo ante order to halt the law’s implementation.
Despite the legal challenge, no BSKE will happen in November or December this year as the high court has yet to issue a ruling on Macalintal’s petition as of Oct. 6. It has only directed the Office of the President, the Senate, the House of Representatives and the COMELEC on Sept. 30 to comment on the lawyer’s plea to declare RA 12326 unconstitutional.
Should the SC issue an order against the postponement of 2026 BSKE, Macalintal maintained that the COMELEC can adjust the election period and resume its preparations.
“The Supreme Court may order the COMELEC to schedule the election and take into consideration the days lost due to this case. Proper adjustments will be made without affecting our rights. What matters is that the barangay election must proceed this year,” he said in Filipino during an Oct. 1 radio interview.
In its comment dated Oct. 5, the Office of the Solicitor General, on behalf of the named respondents, asked the SC to dismiss Macalintal’s petition, noting that a TRO would disrupt COMELEC’s operations, which already “suspended its preparations, lifted the election prohibitions, and discontinued the filing of [COCs] and the campaign period.”
“If the implementation of R.A. No. 12326 were restrained, respondent COMELEC would be compelled to recalibrate its calendar of activities, readjust its operational timelines, and undertake anew electoral preparations that it has already suspended. It would have to do so with less than a month remaining before November 2, 2026. The resulting disruption would affect not only the parties but also the orderly conduct of the electoral process,” the OSG said.
The spurious posts by at least six users have collectively amassed 17,201 reactions; 1,789 comments and 3,896 shares, with the four clips carrying the untrue claims being viewed over 900,000 times.
