Barangay and SK Elections 2023: Relevance for Grassroots Public Service

Danica Macayan

October 31, 2023

Illustration: Andrea Apit/Overturn

The Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) 2023 officially commenced on October 30, a critical event that is meant to change the smallest political unit in the Philippines for the next 3 years.

As a general knowledge, the Supreme Court postponed the BSKE for its first schedule in December 2020 and the almost final date, which was the first Monday of December 2022. Yet, those dates were changed once again as the Supreme Court decided to move forward in October 2023 as they claimed that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) was not ready to hold any preparations for another election on 2021.

In the return of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, there are at least 42,000 vacant positions in all of the barangays that seek to be filled according to COMELEC, however, the number of candidacies filed reached approximately 1.4 million.

The massive figures also call for enormous responsibilities and concerns that arose as to what motivates such a number of political aspirants to run for BSKE 2023. Would all of the candidates genuinely run for public service, ideally?

Grassroots Public Service

In an everyday scenario, a normal person would not come across with the city mayor, congressman, senator, or even more impossible, the president, but in the life of an ordinary citizen, it is more likely to come across with the barangay captain, councilors, and SK, as the barangay is where most citizens get the chance to have close contact with government, public service, and public servants.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country on 2020-2021, the function of BSK was especially demanded as the need for an immediate response for both financial and health assistance was needed more than ever by Filipino citizens, from the largest down to the smallest unit of society.

The barangay and sangguniang kabataan (SK) officials have a pivotal role in maintaining peace and order within their jurisdiction and providing grassroots services to the initial receiver of assistance under the barangay, a function that gives extra emphasis on how the barangay and SK elections are predominantly important.

What makes BSKE 2023 unique?

According to the Legal Network for Truthful Elections, or LENTE, an offense for premature campaigning was enforced by the COMELEC not following Penera vs. Comelec since BSKE 2023 will implement a manual election. This validates the slight amount of politicians’ gimmicks during this year’s election in forms of parades, social media postings and other election campaign paraphernalia.

The campaign period for BSKE started on October 19 and lasted until October 28. The 10 days campaign should be followed since the COMELEC or any interested and concerned individuals can file a case against candidates that will exceed the mandated time frame for campaigning.

Going back on history, since 2010, the schedule of BSKE has been every after presidential elections, however, according to Congress, people tend to get tired of consecutive elections and the environment is still in divisive phase, if the COMELEC will conduct another elections, the divisiveness of people will worsen. Thus, postponement happens.

However, the Supreme Court said that the congress should prevent dismissing the election any further, as the lack of time, divisive environment and tired citizens are not enough to yet propose another postponement on BSKE.

In this regard, the Supreme Court laid down guidelines of conditions for the Congress to postpone the Barangay and SK Elections. Which leads to a 2-year term for the official candidates who will win. Their term will expire until December 2025 only; there will be no postponement, no extension.

What awaits for future elections?

Since the Supreme Court only implemented a two year term for barangay and sangguniang kabataan officials, according to LENTE Executive Director Atty. Ona Carritos, it will be ideal for the people to think about who they will vote on BSKE 2023, as the right to choose a leader has always been critical, whether in a barangay or nationwide election.

Atty. Ona Carritos also added that there are bills filed in the Congress mandating candidates to attend debates, as what happened in the last presidential election in line with the presidential debate absences of the current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should be avoided in future electoral exercises.

Nonetheless, with the new set of leaders that the masses have officially chosen from the last Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Election (BSKE), may their presence not be buried alone on the campaign period, and prove that the credentials imposed, their promises, and the enthusiastic vibe expressed in the battle between campaign jingles are meant to prevail in their entire candidacy.

There’s a need to have a longer discussion about the roles of government officials and how the importance of governance affects all people and not only certain sectors in the country.