Barangay

From Open Encyclopedia

A barangay (Filipino: baranggay , pronounced as 'ba-rang-gai', gai as in guy), also known by its former name, the barrio, is the smallest local government unit in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward. Municipalities and cities are composed of barangays. Barangays, especially large barangays in the rural areas, are divided into puroks, sitios or sonas (the terms are interchangable) headed by a purok president and his set of officers. The barangay was conceived during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, replacing the old barrios.

1 Structure
2 History
3 The Liga ng mga Barangay
4 References
5 External links

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Structure

Each barangay is headed by a barangay captain (punong barangay), i.e. the district mayor, who leads the barangay council (sangguniang barangay) composed of barangay councilors (kagawad). Every barangay also has a Youth Council (the Sangguniang Kabataan or "SK") composed of the SK President or Chairman and SK Councilors, who direct the youth-oriented activities, such as basketball leagues and other youth oriented activities, in the barangay. The SK sprung out of the Kabataang Barangay, which was also started during the Marcos' administration.

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History

Historically, a barangay is a relatively small community of around 50 to 100 families. Most villages have only thirty to one hundred houses and the population varies from one hundred to five hundred persons. According to Legazpi, he found communities with twenty to thirty people only. Many coastal villages in the Visayan region consisted of no more than eight to ten houses. The word itself is derived from an ancient Malay boat called a balangay. It is commonly believed that in pre-colonial Philippines, each original coastal “barangay” formed as a result of settlers arriving by boat from other places in Southeast Asia.

Most communities were coastal or riverine in nature. This is because the principal sources of protein come from the seas and rivers, most of the people relying more on fishing for supply of food. Also, people travelled mostly by water. The movement of the population was up and down rivers and along the coasts, trails always followed river systems. Rivers were also a major souce of water for bathing, washing, and drinking. Moreover, coastal villages are more accessible to traders where an economic activity is developed. Business with traders meant contact with other cultures and civilizations like the Chinese, Indian, and Arabian. Thus, the coastal communities in Manila, Cebu, Jolo, and Butuan attained a higher cultural level.

Upon the arrival of the Spanish, several ancient barangays were combined to form towns. Every barangay within a town was headed by the cabeza de barangay (barangay chief). The post was at first inherited from the first datus who became cabezas de barangay, but then was made into an elected post. The primary job of the cabeza de barangay was to collect taxes from the residents.

When the Americans arrived, the term barrio went into prominence, as the barangays were called by that name. The term was kept for much of the twentieth century until Marcos ordered the renaming of the barrios back to barangay. The name has stuck ever since, though some people still use the old term.

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The Liga ng mga Barangay

There exists a union of barangays in the Philippines: the Liga ng mga Barangay. Representing 41,939 barangays, it is the largest grassroots organization in the Philippines. Its current president is James Marty Lim.

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