Crowds poured into the streets of the country’s biggest barangay, Bagong Silang in Caloocan City, as candidates for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSK Elections) wrap up their campaign on Saturday, October 28.
But it was not as festive in other areas such as Bel-air in Makati, one the country’s richest barangays, where positions are uncontested.
BIGGEST BARANGAY: Bagong Silang in Caloocan City is home to 261,728 residents. Its population is more than double of the city of San Juan, the smallest city in Metro Manila.
BIGGEST BARANGAY: In the 2023 BSK elections, four candidates are vying to be chairman of Bagong Silang in Caloocan City. In the previous 2018 elections, five candidates competed for the top post.
BIGGEST BARANGAY: Since 2018, Bagong Silang has received an average of P195 million worth of annual tax allotment from the national budget. It is 25% more than what all barangays in San Juan City received in 2022.
The barangay is the Philippines’ smallest political unit. It plays an important role as the “principal unit of democracy,” said governance expert Antonio La Viña, former dean of the Ateneo School of Government.
The rich and the middle class may not see the importance of barangays because “they don’t really need the services of the barangay.” But it is important for the poor population.
The barangay delivers basic services. They also handle quasi-judicial matters like conflicts between residents, they give aid (ayuda), they provide health and food services. The barangay is consulted by the national government in terms of services needed.
“Only in Manila, among the press, and where we are situated are we looking at the president, but that’s not true on the ground. Never has been true on the ground. That’s why local elections should generate more interest than national elections,” he said.
(Q&A: ‘The real face of government in the Philippines is the barangay captain’ )
RICH BARANGAY: Barangay Bel-Air in Makati has been touted as the country’s richest barangays. The streets were quiet on the last day of the campaign on Saturday, October. Many candidates are running uncontested.
FESTIVE CAMPAIGNS. Residents also crowd the streets of Tondo, touted as one of the poorest areas in Metro Manila.
The capacities of barangays depend on their access resources. “The barangay, depending on where it is, can have a lot of money. Either because of its own share in taxes or because of how the national government or the city or municipal government will transfer money,” said La Viña.
Bagong Silang has received an average of P195 million worth of annual tax allotment from the national budget since 2008. It is 25% more than what all barangays in San Juan City received in 2022.
The barangay with the smallest population on record, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, is also found in Caloocan City. The barangay receives an annual tax allotment of P1.2 million.
“It matters that the barangay official has integrity, has vision, knows how to spend the money properly, and knows how to deliver services.
SMALLEST BARANGAY: Barangay 76 in Caloocan City has only two registered residents but it has 210 voters, PCIJ research shows.
Barangay 76 is a curious case. PCIJ’s research showed the barangay only two registered residents. But it is led by a barangay chairman and seven councilors, all of whom are not residents of the barangay.
The position for barangay chairman is uncontested because only one candidate filed for a certificate of candidacy for the top post.
According to a barangay representative that PCIJ spoke to, only about six homes are left in the barangay as residents have been crowded out by businesses.
A representative from the Comelec office of the second district of Caloocan City said: “These could have been former residents who never registered in their new barangays.”
SMALLEST BARANGAY. A satellite view of the barangay would also show it houses three malls, with one medical center.
There are several reasons a barangay loses its residents.
Barangay Calawit in Batangas Province, recorded zero residents after the 2020 Taal Volcano eruption that buried hundreds of homes with heavy ash.
Calawit is known as the barangay that governs the Taal Volcano. The island barangay was declared a “permanent danger zone,” forcing long-time residents to leave the island. In September, ABS-CBN reported San Nicolas Mayor Lester de Sagun had already criticized why a barangay election would still be held for Calawit, despite having no residents.
Calawit is one of two barangays in the Philippines with zero recorded residents, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. The other is Barangay V or Porao Island in Palawan. Both are lone islands in their respective provinces.
The BSK elections were postponed twice from its original schedule in May 2020. It will finally push through on Monday, October 30. Watchdogs said these postponements have deprived voters from choosing their leaders. A Supreme court decision also declared these postponements unconstitutional.
On Monday, Filipino voters will decide a total of 672,432 seats, where they can elect new leaders or extend the terms of incumbent officials who are now serving their posts for five years. There are 828,644 candidates for the village elections and 585,843 candidates for the youth elections. END