A total of 237 barangay officials who would have finished serving three consecutive terms at their posrs have gotten an extra two years, thanks to the postponement of the Nov. 2 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
Republic Act No. 12326, or the Act Fixing the Term of Office of Barangay Officials and Members of the Sangguniang Kabataan to Five Years, sets the next BSKE for the second Monday of November 2028 and every five years thereafter, giving officials elected in 2023 an additional two-year term.
In Catanduanes, not all of the 315 Punong Barangays (PBs), 2,205 barangay kagawads and 315 SK chairpersons are eligible to run in the next BSKE on Nov. 13, 2028.
Based on the database of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Catanduanes Provincial Office, a total of 43 village chiefs and 194 Sangguniang Barangay Members (SBMs) are third-termers and thus barred from being candidates for the same position in two years.
Here is the breakdown by municipality:
Bagamanoc – 3 PBs (Cahan, Hinipaan and Salvacion) and 6 SBMs.
Baras – 6 PBs (Agban, Buenavista, Puraran, Putsan, Quezon and Western Poblacion) and 18 SBMs.
Bato – 4 PBs (Aroyao Pequeño, Cabugao, Marinawa and Mintay) and 14 SBMs.
Caramoran – 1 PB (Iyao) and 14 SBMs.
Gigmoto – 1 PB (District II) and 7 SBMs.
Pandan – 2 PBs (Balagñonan and Marambong) and 13 SBMs.
Panganiban – 5 PBs (Mabini, Taopon, San Joaquin, San Juan and Santo Santiago) and 17 SBMs.
San Andres – 4 PBs (Alibuag, Bislig, Lubas and San Isidro) and 22 SBMs.
San Miguel – 4 PBs (Dayawa, Poblation District II, Katipunan and Paraiso) and 11 SBMs.
Viga – 5 PBs (Del Pilar, Magsaysay, Osmeña, Rizal, and San Pedro) and 20 SBMs.
Virac – 8 PBs (Batag, Buyo, Calatagan Proper, Casoocan, Dugui San Vicente, F. Tacorda Village, Talisoy and Tubaon) and 52 SBMs.
In both Calatagan Proper in Virac and San Juan in Panganiban, the Punong Barangay and four barangay kagawads are barred from reelection in 2028.
Under RA 12326, incumbent elective barangay officials shall be considered to have completed one term in their respective positions, given the two-year extension of their terms.
“Incumbent officials serving their last term in the same position in accordance with Section 1 hereof shall be ineligible to run for the same position in the November 2028 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections,” it states.
The law also provides that a vacancy in the Sangguniang Kabataan shall be filled by appointment by the city or municipal mayor, while a vacancy in the SK chairperson position shall be filled through succession as provided by law.
It mandates that the DILG, in coordination with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Commission on Elections, state universities and colleges, and other appropriate government agencies, shall institutionalize training and capacity-building programs for the officials and members of the Sangguniang Kabataan.
The law also warns that being an incumbent official does not protect them from pending and future investigations concerning administrative, civil, or criminal cases or liabilities against them.