Barangay

A barangay is the smallest local government unit in the Philippines and is very similar to a village. Municipalities and cities are composed of barangays.

Each barangay is headed by a barangay captain (punong barangay) who leads the barangay council (sangguniang barangay) composed of barangay councilors (kagawad). Every barangay also has a Youth Council ("Sangguniang Kabataan" or "SK") composed of the SK President or Chairman and SK Councilors, who direct the youth-oriented activities, such as basketball leagues, in the barangay.

Historically, the term barangay refers to a community of around 50 to 100 families. The word itself is derived from an ancient Malay boat called a balangay. This connection between community and boat supports certain theories on the history of the pre-colonial Philippines, specifically, that each original coastal “barangay” formed as a result of settlers arriving by boat from other places in Southeast Asia.