MANILA, Philippines — Senator Imee Marcos has appealed to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to immediately sign the proposed measure seeking to lengthen the term of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials, saying the bill would standardize their term of office and allow the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to focus on preparing for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) elections in October.

In a statement on Monday, Marcos stressed that Senate Bill No. 2816 differs significantly from Republic Act No. 11935, which solely aimed to temporarily extend the tenure of barangay officials elected in 2018. She said the new measure seeks to definitively set the term lengths for barangay and SK leaders.

“The postponement of the 2025 Barangay and SK Elections is merely incidental,” the senator said. “I thus appeal to the President to sign the bill as soon as possible so that COMELEC can focus on preparing for the BARMM elections.”

However, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal urged the President to reject the measure, warning that enacting the bill would undermine the people’s constitutional right to elect their leaders.

In a separate statement, Macalintal argued that the bill—though framed as a measure to define term limits—is misleading because it effectively pushes back the December 2025 Barangay and SK elections to November 2026. This, he said, would allow incumbent officials to remain in a holdover capacity, extending their stay in office without a renewed public mandate.

He pointed out that the proposed law suffers from the same legal infirmities as Republic Act No. 11935, which delayed the 2022 village elections and was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Macalintal v. COMELEC in 2023.

“Congress may define term limits, but it cannot extend an incumbent’s stay by simply moving the elections,” Macalintal said, adding that doing so constitutes a “legislative appointment disguised as a holdover,” which violates the public’s right to elect their leaders.