MANILA — The House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms approved House Resolution 1942 urging the House of Representatives to recommend and request the Comelec to re-schedule the filing of Certificates of Candidacy for the May 2025 midterm elections to December 1 until December 8, 2024.

Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., said the proposed resolution aims to give sufficient time for candidates to make the appropriate evaluations, preparations, and decisions” given that “the substitution of candidates is no longer allowed after the last day of the filing of COCs except for reasons of death or disqualification of a candidate.”

The committee also approved a proposed measure resetting the December 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to October 2026.

Bill sponsor Camarines Sur Rep. Rep. Luis ‘LRay’ Villafuerte Jr. said House Bill 10344 aims to “comply” with the three-year term of incumbent Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials as set by the Local Government Code of 1991.

This is despite the latest Supreme Court decision that “ruled that the succeeding BSKE shall be held on the first Monday of December 2025 and every three years thereafter, pursuant to RA 11462, and that the Congress is not precluded from further amending RA 9164 (as amended), the law which provides for synchronized BSKE.”

The Court had declared as unconstitutional the postponement of the BSKE from its initial schedule of December 5, 2022 to the last Monday of October 2023 with the the term of office of the then sitting BSK officials deemed to have ended on December 31, 2022.

Villafuerte said his proposal will give the newly elected barangay officials to serve the full three-year term from the time they were elected in 2023.

“Ang intent ng bill is to give the incumbent barangay officials the full three year term as mandated by the Constitution and the local government code kasi if we cut their term, that’s unconstitutional,” Villafuerte said.

The committee also approved a proposed measure providing for the conduct of national and local elections within the premises of shopping malls filed by Quezon City Rep. Ma. Victoria Co-Pilar with further amendments.