2026 Philippine barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections

Barangay (transl. villages) and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK; transl. youth council) elections (BSKE) in the Philippines will be held on November 2, 2026. These barangay elections will determine the barangay captain and SK chairman, and the composition of the Sangguniang Barangay (transl. village council) and SK in each of the 42,011 barangays in the country.

2026 Philippine barangay elections

← 2023 November 2, 2026 2030 →
42,011 barangay captains, and 294,077 of 336,088 Sangguniang Barangay members Per barangay: 5 in the Sangguniang Barangay seats needed for a majority
Liga ng mga Barangay National President before election Jessica Dy Elected Liga ng mga Barangay National President TBD
2026 Philippine Sangguniang Kabataan elections
← 2023 November 2, 2026 2030 →
42,011 Sangguniang Kabataan chairpersons, and all 294,077 Sangguniang Kabataan members Per barangay: 4 in the Sangguniang Kabataan seats needed for a majority

Originally scheduled to be held on December 1, 2025, President Marcos signed a law postponing the elections to November 2026.

Electoral system

Further information: Barangay elections

Each barangay has an elected chief executive, the barangay captain, and an eight-seat legislature, the Sangguniang Barangay, of which seven are elected at-large in this election.^[1]

Voters aged 15 to 30 years old on election day also elect among themselves the Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson in each barangay, who is the eighth member of the Sangguniang Barangay, and all seven members of the SK at-large.^[2]

Both the barangay captain and the SK chairperson are elected via the first-past-the-post system, while the legislatures are elected via multiple non-transferable votes.^[1]

Barangay-level elections are nonpartisan elections. Slates of candidates for barangay captain and seven councilors, and an SK chairman and SK councilors, are common; a slate of barangay and SK candidates may cross-endorse each other. Political parties allegedly clandestinely support their candidates despite the nonpartisan nature of the election.^[3]

Upon their election, barangay captains shall elect their cities' or municipalities' Liga ng mga Barangay (transl. league of the barangays) president, previously known and still known as the "Association of Barangay Captains" or ABC president, who also sits on their respective local municipal or city council. The municipal and city ABC presidents in a province shall elect among themselves a provincial ABC president who also sits on the provincial board. The provincial and independent city ABC chairmen shall elect among themselves the national leadership of the League.^[4]

Unlike the barangay captains, who have their own national federation, the SK chairpersons do not have such an equivalent body after its reformation in 2018.^[5]

Preparation

The 2023 Philippine barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections were originally scheduled to be held on 2022 but were postponed to October 2023 with subsequent elections held in three-year intervals; this meant that after the 2023 elections, the next would have been held in 2026.^[6] A Supreme Court decision in June 2023 declared the law postponing the election to 2023 to be unconstitutional but still ordered the 2023 elections to continue, with the next elections in 2025, then every three years thereafter.^[7]

Postponement

In June 2024, the Commission on Elections said it will benefit the commission if the barangay elections were postponed to 2026, to prevent the barangay elections being held on the same year as the general election.^[8] Speaker Martin Romualdez filed a bill proposing a six-year term for barangay officials, for a maximum of two consecutive terms, with current officials' terms extended to 2029.^[9] In November 2024, Senator Imee Marcos sponsored a bill postponing the election to 2029, then every six years thereafter. Marcos explained that a longer term shall give barangay officials to "deepen their understanding of both national and local issues, as well as implement their own medium- and long-term initiatives," aside from the fact that the barangay elections "will never coincide with the national and local elections".^[10]

An updated Senate bill saw barangay officials terms set to four years, with the officials elected in 2023 serving until 2027, and in holdover capacity from 2025 onwards. A House bill has barangay officials' terms set to six years, with barangay incumbents serving until 2029. House representative Ma. Victoria Co-Pilar from Quezon City sponsored the House bill. Romulo Macalintal, the same lawyer who successfully sued the constitutionality of the previous postponement law, and the Legal Network for Truthful Elections both opposed further postponements.^[11]

On April 21, 2025, the commission released its calendar for the barangay elections, setting the date on December 1.^[12] By June 12, both chambers of Congress had ratified the bicameral conference committee version of setting barangay officials' terms to four years and up to two reelections, with SK officials' terms to four years with no reelection, and postponing the 2025 elections to November 2026.^[13] Because of the developments on the bill, the commission suspended voter registration, setting it from July to October after 2025 Bangsamoro Parliament election.^[14]

In distinguishing Republic Act (RA) No. 11935, that law that was struck down as unconstitutional, to the bill awaiting the president's signature, Senator Imee Marcos said that RA 11935 extended the term of the incumbent when postponing the election to a later date, the current bill, aside from postponing the election, definitely set the term of office and term limits for barangay and SK officials. Macalintal countered that the bill extended "their tenure without a public mandate."^[15]

By August, COMELEC chairman George Garcia said that they had been informed that President Marcos will sign the bill into law postponing the election on August 12, 2025.^[16] On August 14, President Marcos signed the bill into law, postponing the elections to November 2026, extending incumbents' terms up to that time, extending upcoming officials' terms to four years from three, with still two reelections, except for SK officials who have no reelection.^[17] Lawyer Romulo Macalintal, the same person who successfully sued to declare the prior postponement law as unconstitutional, sued anew for this law's unconstitutionality, arguing that the Supreme Court's requirements that there should be "important, substantial, or compelling reason" for the postponement was not followed.^[18]

Voter registration

The commission scheduled voter registration for this election from August 1 to 10, 2025.^[19] The COMELEC announced that 2.7 million people registered for the election, with 65% of those registering coming from the youth.^[20]

Statistics

From the 42,001 barangays contested in 2023, there are now 42,011 barangays in the Philippines as of March 31, 2025, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.^[21] The new barangays that will be contested for the first time are:

• Barangays Sultan Corobong, Sultan Panoroganan, and Angoyao in Marawi, Lanao del Sur, created after successful plebiscites on March 9, 2024.^[22]
  • Barangay Sultan Corobong was created from Barangay Dulay Proper
  • Barangay Sultan Panoroganan was created from Barangay Kilala
  • Barangay Angoyao was created from Barangay Patan
• Barangay Juan-Loreto Tamayo in Tupi, South Cotabato, created after successful plebiscite on July 13, 2024.^[23]
  • Barangay Juan-Loreto Tamayo was created from parts of barangays Cebuano, Linan, and Miasong
• Barangay Guinhalinan in Barabo, Surigao del Sur, created after successful plebiscite on August 10, 2024.^[24]
• Barangays 176-A, 176-B, 176-C, 176-D, 176-E, and 176-F in Caloocan, created after successful plebiscite on August 31, 2024.^[25]
  • Barangay 176 (Bagong SIlang), the most populous barangay in the country, was divided into six new barangays.

Moreover, boundaries of barangays in Las Piñas were redrawn after a successful plebiscite on June 29, 2024.^[26]