| Barangay | |
|---|---|
| |
 Number of barangays per Philippine province | |
| Category | Village |
| Location | Philippines |
| Found in | Municipalities,cities, and barangay districts |
| Created |
|
| Number | 42,011[2] (as of July 8, 2025) |
| Populations | 1 (Buenavista andFugu)[b] – 213,229 (Commonwealth)[3] |
| Areas | 0.14 ha (0.0014 km2) forMalusak – 65,000 ha (650 km2) forGupitan[4] |
| Government |
|
| Subdivisions | |
 |
|---|
 Philippines portal |
Thebarangay[c] (/bɑːrɑːŋˈɡaɪ/; abbreviated asBrgy. orBgy.), historically known as thebarrio,[d] is the smallestadministrative division in the Philippines. Named after theprecolonial polities of the same name, modern barangays are political subdivisions ofcities andmunicipalities, and are analogous tovillages, districts, neighborhoods,suburbs, orboroughs.[5] The termbarangay is derived frombalangay, a type of boat used byAustronesian peoples when they migrated to the Philippines.[6]
All cities, includingindependent cities, and municipalities in the Philippines are politically subdivided into barangays, with the exception of the municipalities ofAdams inIlocos Norte andKalayaan inPalawan, each of which contains only one barangay. Barangays are sometimes informally subdivided into smaller areas calledpurok (English:"zone"), or barangay zones consisting of clusters of houses for organizational purposes, andsitios, which are territorialenclaves—usuallyrural—located far from thepoblacion. As of January 2025[update], there are 42,011 barangays throughout the country.[2]
When the firstSpaniards arrived in the Philippines in the 16th century, they found well-organized, independent villages calledbarangays. The namebarangay, also spelledbalangay, originally referred to a certain type of traditional boat in many languages in the Philippines.[6] Early Spanish dictionaries of Philippine languages make it clear that the precolonialbalangay orbarangay was pronounced "ba-la-ngay" or "ba-ra-ngay", while today the modernbarangay is pronounced "ba-rang-gay", leading to the non-standard spellingbaranggay.[7] The pre-colonial term also 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. Whilebarangay is a Tagalog word, it spread throughout the Philippines as Spanish rule concentrated power in Manila.[8]
All citations regarding pre-colonial barangays lead to a single source, Juan de Plascencia's 1589 reportLas costumbres de los indios Tagalos de Filipinas. However, historian Damon Woods challenges the concept of abarangay as an indigenous political organization primarily due to a lack of linguistic evidence. Based on indigenous language documents, Tagalogs did not use the wordbarangay 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.[9]
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. Theencomienda of 1604 shows that many affluent and powerful coastal barangays inSulu,Butuan,Panay,[10]Leyte,Cebu,Pampanga,Pangasinan,Pasig,Laguna, and theCagayan 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.[11] These smaller barangays had around thirty to one hundred houses only, and the population varied from 100 to 500 persons. According toMiguel López de Legazpi, he founded communities with only 20 to 30 people.
Traditionally,[12] the original "barangays" were coastal settlements formed by the migration of theseMalayo-Polynesian people (who came to the archipelago) from other places inSoutheast Asia (seechiefdom). Most of theancient 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 ofJapan,Han Chinese,Indians, andArabs.[13] These coastal communities acquired more cosmopolitan cultures with developed social structures (sovereign principalities), ruled by established royalties and nobilities.
DuringSpanish rule, through aresettlement policy calledreductions, smaller, scattered barangays were consolidated (and thus "reduced") to form compact towns.[14][15] Each barangay was headed by thecabeza de barangay (barangay chief), who formed part of theprincipalía, the elite ruling class of the municipalities of the Spanish Philippines. This position was inherited from the firstdatus 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 thecabeza.
When theAmericans arrived, "slight changes in the structure of local government was effected".[16] 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).[16]
TheSpanish termbarrio (abbr. Bo.) was used for much of the 20th century.Manila mayorRamon Bagatsing 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, PresidentFerdinand Marcos ordered the renaming of barrios to barangays.[17] The name survived thePeople Power Revolution, though older people would still use the termbarrio. 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 theNew Society praised the role ofbaranganic democracy in nation-building.[18]
After the People Power Revolution and the drafting of the1987 Constitution, the Municipal Council was restored, making the barangay the smallest unit of Philippine government. Thefirst barangay elections held under the new constitution were held on March 28, 1989, under Republic Act No. 6679.[19][20]
The last barangay elections were held inOctober 2023.[21] The next elections will be held in December 2025.[22]
The modern barangay is headed by elected officials, the topmost being thebarangay captain. The barangay captain is aided by theSangguniang Barangay (Barangay Council), whose members, calledbarangay kagawad ("councilors"), are also elected. The barangay is often governed from itsseat of local government, thebarangay hall.
The council is considered alocal 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, orSangguniang Kabataan (SK). Thus, there are eight members of thelegislative council in a barangay.[23]
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.[clarification needed]
The Barangay Justice System, orKatarungang 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.[24]
Barangay elections are non-partisan and are typically hotly contested. Barangay captains are elected byfirst-past-the-post plurality (norunoff voting). Councilors are elected byplurality-at-large voting, with the entire barangay as a singleat-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, aticket consists of one candidate for barangay captain and seven candidates for councilors. Elections,inaugurations, and start of a new term and end of the current one for the post ofpunong barangay,barangay kagawads, and SK are usually held on various number of years and dates, with 2007 to 2013 are fixed to every three years and from October to November 30 of the year.
A barangaytanod, or barangay police officer, is an unarmedwatchman 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 theInternal 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.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Media related toBarangays at Wikimedia CommonsPhilippines articles | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| History |
| ||||||
| Geography | |||||||
| Politics |
| ||||||
| Economy | |||||||
| Society |
| ||||||
