Barangay

When the first Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in the 16th century, they found well-organized, independent villages called barangays. The name barangay originated from balangay, a certain type of traditional boat in many languages in the Philippines.[7] Early Spanish dictionaries of Philippine languages make it clear that balangay was pronounced "ba-la-ngay", while today the modern barangay is pronounced "ba-rang-gay".[8] The term referred to the people serving under a particular chief rather than to the modern meaning of an area of land, for which other words were used. While barangay is a Tagalog word, it spread throughout the Philippines as Spanish rule concentrated power in Manila.[9]

All citations regarding pre-colonial barangays lead to a single source, Juan de Plascencia's 1589 report Las costumbres de los indios Tagalos de Filipinas. However, historian Damon Woods challenges the concept of a barangay as an indigenous political organization primarily due to a lack of linguistic evidence. Based on indigenous language documents, Tagalogs did not use the word barangay to describe themselves or their communities. Instead, barangay is argued to be a Spanish invention resulting from an attempt by the Spaniards to reconstruct pre-conquest Tagalog society.[10]

The first barangays started as relatively small communities of around 50 to 100 families. By the time of contact with the Spaniards, many barangays had developed into large communities. The encomienda of 1604 shows that many affluent and powerful coastal barangays in Sulu, Butuan, Panay,[11] Leyte, Cebu, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Pasig, Laguna, and the Cagayan River were flourishing trading centers. Some of these barangays had large populations. In Panay, some barangays had 20,000 inhabitants; in Leyte (Baybay), 15,000 inhabitants; in Cebu, 3,500 residents; in Vitis (Pampanga), 7,000 inhabitants; and in Pangasinan, 4,000 residents. There were smaller barangays with fewer people, but these were generally inland communities, or if they were coastal, they were not located in areas that were good for business pursuits.[12] These smaller barangays had around thirty to one hundred houses only, and the population varied from 100 to 500 persons. According to Miguel López de Legazpi, he founded communities with only 20 to 30 people.

Traditionally,[13] the original "barangays" were coastal settlements formed by the migration of these Malayo-Polynesian people (who came to the archipelago) from other places in Southeast Asia (see chiefdom). Most of the ancient barangays were coastal or riverine. This is because most of the people were relying on fishing for their supply of protein and their livelihood. They also traveled mostly by water, up and down rivers and along the coasts. Trails always followed river systems, which were also a major source of water for bathing, washing, and drinking.

The coastal barangays were more accessible to trade with foreigners. These were ideal places for economic activity to develop. Business with traders from other countries also meant contact with other cultures and civilizations, such as those of Japan, Han Chinese, Indians, and Arabs.[14] These coastal communities acquired more cosmopolitan cultures with developed social structures (sovereign principalities), ruled by established royalties and nobilities.

During Spanish rule, through a resettlement policy called reductions, smaller, scattered barangays were consolidated (and thus "reduced") to form compact towns.[15][16] Each barangay was headed by the cabeza de barangay (barangay chief), who formed part of the principalía, the elite ruling class of the municipalities of the Spanish Philippines. This position was inherited from the first datus and came to be known as such during the Spanish regime. The Spanish monarch, who also collected taxes (called tribute) from the residents for the Spanish Crown, ruled each barangay through the cabeza.

When the Americans arrived, "slight changes in the structure of local government was effected".[17] Later, Rural Councils with four councilors were created to assist, now renamed Barrio Lieutenant; they were later renamed Barrio Council and then Barangay Council (Sangguniang Barangay).[17]

The Spanish term barrio (abbr. Bo.) was used for much of the 20th century. Manila mayor Ramon Bagatsing of established the first Barangay Bureau in the Philippines, creating the blueprint for the barangay system as the basic socio-political unit for the city in the early 1970s. This was quickly replicated by the national government, and in 1974, President Ferdinand Marcos ordered the renaming of barrios to barangays.[18] The name survived the People Power Revolution, though older people would still use the term barrio. The Municipal Council was abolished upon the transfer of powers to the barangay system. Marcos used to call the barangay part of Philippine participatory democracy, and most of his writings involving the New Society praised the role of baranganic democracy in nation-building.[19]

After the People Power Revolution and the drafting of the 1987 Constitution, the Municipal Council was restored, making the barangay the smallest unit of Philippine government. The first barangay elections held under the new constitution were held on March 28, 1989, under Republic Act No. 6679.[20][21]

The last barangay elections were held in May 2018.[22] Barangay elections scheduled for May 2020 were repeatedly postponed to December 2022, then to October 2023.[23]

Information sign at the boundary of Barangay Socorro in Quezon City listing the barangay's officials

Maybo's barangay hall in Boac, Marinduque

A barangay hall in Sulop, Davao del Sur

Mariki's barangay hall in Zamboanga City

The modern barangay is headed by elected officials, the topmost being the barangay captain. The barangay captain is aided by the Sangguniang Barangay (Barangay Council), whose members, called barangay kagawad ("councilors"), are also elected. The barangay is often governed from its seat of local government, the barangay hall.

The council is considered a local government unit (LGU), similar to the provincial and municipal governments. The officials that make up the council are the barangay captain, seven barangay councilors, and the chairman of the Youth Council, or Sangguniang Kabataan (SK). Thus, there are eight members of the legislative council in a barangay.[24]

The council is in session for a new solution or a resolution of bill votes, and if the counsels and the SK are at a tie, the barangay captain uses their vote. This only happens when the SK, which is sometimes stopped and continued, In the absence of an SK, the council votes for a nominated Barangay Council president, and this president is not like the League of the Barangay Councilors, which is composed of barangay captains of a municipality.

The Barangay Justice System, or Katarungang Pambarangay, is composed of members commonly known as the Lupon Tagapamayapa (justice of the peace). Their function is to conciliate and mediate disputes at the barangay level to avoid legal action and relieve the courts of docket congestion.[25]

Barangay elections are non-partisan and are typically hotly contested. Barangay captains are elected by first-past-the-post plurality (no runoff voting). Councilors are elected by plurality-at-large voting, with the entire barangay as a single at-large district. Each voter can vote for up to seven candidates for councilor, with the winners being the seven candidates with the most votes. Typically, a ticket consists of one candidate for barangay captain and seven candidates for councilors. Elections for the post of punong barangay and the barangay kagawads are usually held every three years, starting in 2007.

A barangay tanod, or barangay police officer, is an unarmed watchman who fulfills policing functions within the barangay. The number of barangay tanods differs from one barangay to another; they help maintain law and order in the neighborhoods throughout the Philippines.

Funding for the barangay comes from their share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), with a portion of the allotment set aside for the Sangguniang Kabataan. The exact amount of money is determined by a formula combining the barangay's population and land area.

• Poblacion
• Barrio
• Association of Barangay Captains
• Balangay
• Barangay Health Volunteers
• Purok
• Sitio

• Constantino, Renato. (1975) The Philippines: A Past Revisited (volume 1). ISBN 971-8958-00-2
• Mamuel Merino, O.S.A., ed., Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas (1565–1615), Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1975.

• Katarungang Pambarangay Handbook