The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has officially started preparing for the 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) after the House of Representatives passed the measure on its third and final reading, extending the terms of Barangay and SK officials from three to six years.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the 2025 BSKE is set on December 1 this year and will be completely manual. Garcia noted that implementing manual elections for the BSKE will be less expensive than the automated voting and canvassing.
The 19th Congress has allocated P11 billion for the BSKE, Garcia said.
A 10-day nationwide voter registration for the village polls will start from July 1 to July 11, 2025.
The Comelec said it expects some one million new voters to register during the 10-day period.
The BSKE voting will be from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 1, but the Comelec will again set early voting hours for senior citizens, persons with disabilities and pregnant women.
With barely five months before election day, Garcia warned that local officials supporting barangay candidates cannot prematurely campaign and use government resources or projects to do so.
The Comelec, he said, will file charges against those engaged in premature campaigning.
