THE SENATE on Tuesday approved on third reading a bill that sets the term of office for village and youth council officials to four years and bars elected officials from serving more than three consecutive terms in the same post.
“With the longer fixed term, the barangay officials and members of the SK will deepen their understanding of both national and local issues, as well as implement their own medium- and long-term initiative at the barangay level,” Senator Maria Imelda R. Marcos earlier said in her sponsorship speech of Senate bill No. 2816.
Twenty-two senators unanimously voted in favor of the bill with no negative votes nor abstentions.
If enacted into law, the measure would mandate that all incumbent village and youth council officials stay in office unless “sooner removed or suspended” until successors have been elected.
Current officials serving a third consecutive term will be barred from running for the same position in the October 2027 village and youth council elections.
The bill also mandates that these elections will be held every first Monday of October starting in 2027 and every four years after.
Senators also approved bills amending the Safe Spaces Act to punish spreading explicit deepfakes of individuals, modernizing the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and another seeking additional monthly pension differential for retired ambassadors and other foreign service officers. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
