While the current structure dates only to the 1970s, the concept of a village leader has a long history, as it was already evident amongst
pre-colonial barangays. During the
Spanish era, the office was known by the title
cabeza de barangay (literally, "head of the barangay"), and was an unelected post. At the beginning of the
American colonial period, the office was renamed barrio lieutenant. Under the
Administrative Code of 1917, passed by the
Philippine Assembly, these too were not elected but rather appointed by and under the supervision of the city councilor for the barrio. Councillors were elected at that time by
electoral districts. Barrio lieutenants received no pay or other compensation. The lieutenant was to assist the city councilor and his term ended when the councilor's term ended. During the American colonial period and after
independence in 1946, barangays were known as
barrios and barangay leaders were known as
barrio lieutenants. In the U.S. the most similar political position to a barangay captain is a
county executive (though the US counterpart covers more land and has more population on average than a Filipino barangay), the US colonial administration of the Philippines helped model the barangay captain's powers to that more of a US county executive. In 1991, the position took its present name and form with amendments to the
Local Government Code. == Responsibilities ==