THE POSTPONEMENT of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to November 2028 has effectively handed incumbent barangay and youth officials something politicians ordinarily have to fight for at the ballot box: more time in office.
That additional time must come with a price — more work, better service and greater accountability.
Iloilo City’s Mayor Raisa Treñas captured the obligation succinctly: “Ang importante is what we do with the additional time given to us.”
Exactly.
Republic Act 12326 extends the terms of elected barangay and SK officials to five years and moves the elections originally scheduled for November 2026 to November 2028. That means two additional years before facing the electorate again. Those years must never be interpreted as a political vacation, much less a license to become complacent. They should instead become two years of measurable performance.
Barangay officials occupy the most immediate level of government. When drainage canals clog, garbage piles up, neighborhood disputes erupt, streets become unsafe, families need assistance or disasters strike, people rarely run first to Malacañang, Congress or even City Hall. They go to the barangay.
That proximity makes barangay governance immensely important. It also makes excuses for poor performance harder to accept. If officials have been given more time, citizens have every right to demand more results.
“So, if they are given more time to serve, then we also expect more work to be done,” Mayor Treñas said.
That expectation should become the standard by which the extended terms are judged.
Barangays should use the additional period to finish delayed projects, strengthen peace and order, improve disaster preparedness, address sanitation and environmental problems, expand social services and ensure that public funds translate into visible benefits for residents.
The same standard must apply to SK officials. Two additional years should not simply mean more basketball leagues, pageants and ceremonial activities. Youth councils have resources, authority and a mandate that should be translated into meaningful programs addressing education, employment, mental well-being, sports development, environmental protection, digital literacy and other concerns affecting young people.
Most importantly, postponing elections postpones the electorate’s regular opportunity to pass judgment on incumbents. That makes transparency and public vigilance even more necessary. Barangay and SK officials should therefore make their accomplishments, expenditures and programs readily visible to their constituents. Residents should know where public money goes, which projects have been completed and what remains undone.
An extended mandate must never become diminished accountability.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. put the principle simply: “Ang dagdag na panahon sa panunungkulan ay dagdag na panahon para maglingkod.” That should become the marching order from now until November 2028.
Incumbents have been given something extraordinarily valuable in politics — time. Now they must prove they deserve it.
Two more years in office must mean two more years of harder work, stronger accountability and better public service. Otherwise, an extension supposedly intended to provide continuity in governance risks becoming nothing more than a longer wait for citizens who deserve better.
