When the first
Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in the 16th century, they found well-organized, independent villages called
barangays. The name
barangay, also spelled
balangay, originally referred to a certain type of traditional boat in many languages in the Philippines. Early Spanish dictionaries of Philippine languages make it clear that the precolonial
balangay or
barangay was pronounced "ba-la-ngay" or "ba-ra-ngay", while today the modern
barangay is pronounced "ba-rang-gay", leading to the non-standard spelling
baranggay. 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. While
barangay is a Tagalog word, it spread throughout the Philippines as Spanish rule concentrated power in Manila. 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. 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,
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. 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, 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. 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. 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". 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). 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. 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. The last barangay elections were held in
October 2023. The next elections will be held in December 2025. == Organization ==