NEARLY eight in 10 Filipino adults want the village (barangay) and youth council (Sangguniang Kabataan) elections to proceed on Nov. 2, 2026, even as lawmakers consider proposals to postpone the polls again, a new survey showed.
The August 2026 National Momentum Survey of Momentum Research found that 78.9 percent of Filipino adults favored holding the barangay and SK elections as scheduled, while 11.8 percent said the elections should be postponed.
The survey was conducted from Aug. 18 to 23 through face-to-face interviews with 1,487 Filipino adults nationwide. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
Another 6.2 percent said they did not have enough knowledge about the issue to take a position, while 2.8 percent were unsure and 0.3 percent declined to answer.
The findings came as lawmakers renewed efforts to move the elections beyond their scheduled November date.
The Senate’s local government committee earlier approved two measures concerning the elections — one proposing to postpone the polls to October 2027 and another seeking to extend the terms of barangay officials from four to five years.
The village and youth council elections were originally scheduled for December 2025 but were postponed to the first Monday of November 2026 under Republic Act 12232.
The law also provides for subsequent village and youth council elections every four years.
The latest survey showed majority support for holding the polls across all regions.
Support was highest in Visayas at 81.7 percent, followed by the rest of Luzon at 79.4 percent and Mindanao at 79 percent.
In Metro Manila, 73.2 percent favored proceeding with the elections, while 18 percent wanted another postponement, the highest share among the regions.
In the rest of Luzon, 10.8 percent favored postponement, compared with 12.5 percent in Visayas and 9.7 percent in Mindanao.
Support for proceeding with the elections also cut across political affiliations.
Pro-Duterte respondents had the highest support at 83.3 percent, followed by pro-Marcos respondents at 82.2 percent and pro-opposition respondents at 82 percent.
Among independents, 76 percent favored holding the elections as scheduled, while 14.2 percent supported another postponement.
Independents had the highest share favoring a delay among the four political groups.
The non-commissioned survey also found majority support for holding the polls across generations.
Support was highest among millennials at 82.1 percent, followed by Gen Z at 80.7 percent. Among Gen X respondents, 74.5 percent favored proceeding, while 73.5 percent of Baby Boomers and members of the Silent Generation supported holding the elections.
The share favoring postponement was highest among Gen X respondents at 17 percent. It stood at 13.1 percent among Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, 10.4 percent among Gen Z respondents and 9.4 percent among millennials.
The last village and youth council elections were held on Oct. 30, 2023.
