During the Philippines’ pre-colonial days, the barangay is one of the most common forms of government. The barangay acted as a village-like structure where the Datu is their leader. According to Wikipedia, “Before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers in the Philippines in the 16th century, the Barangays were well-organized independent villages, and in some cases, cosmopolitan sovereign principalities, which functioned much like a city-state. The Barangay was the dominant organizational pattern among indigenous communities in the Philippine archipelago.
The name barangay originated from balangay, a Malay word meaning “sailboat”. ” (Wikipedia, Barangay- definition, http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Barangay_(pre-colonial)) It was one of the simplest forms of government where a small group of people are headed by one person and his council. Each indigenous tribe treated each other as different sovereigns with different emperors (or Datus). Like any forms of leadership and rule, it had its pro’s and con’s. We are here to talk about the one of the greatest flaw—what could be the main reason how we were colonized so easily.
The problem with the pre-colonial barangay system is there was no absolute power. We didn’t have a leader of leaders. Each Datu of his own village acted as ruler but can have no significance whatsoever on a neighboring village. With that, we were divided. The Spanish took the opportunity to conquer us bit by bit—giving us Catholicism and their own brand of knowledge. Slowly, they spread out on the motherland until the Spanish influence grew in power. We accepted the change for we had no ability to fight back, the Philippines was a torn country of indigenous people minding their own business back then.
It was the Spanish that showed us the proverbial light that “guided” us towards civilization. The Spanish divided and conquered the lands until it was their ideals that became “right. ”Our forefathers saw the intrusion a little bit too late. Some Datus were even baptized—it was the Spanish’s “gift” to us. Slowly, the pre-colonial barangay became obsolete as majority of the Philippine was now a colony under a monarchy. Wikipedia also stated that during the Spanish rule, smaller barangays were combined to form towns.
Each barangay was headed by the cabeza de barangay (barangay chief), who formed part of the Principalia – 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 ruled each barangay through the Cabeza, who also collected taxes (called tribute) from the residents for the Spanish Crown. (Barangay, History, http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Barangay) The evolution of barangay took an unexpected turn when the Americans colonized us.
Our Barangay became known as “Barrio”. Rural Councils with four councilors were created to assist now re-named Barrio Lieutenant. It was later renamed Barrio Council; and later on, the Barangay Council for a change. During the American Colonial Period appointed Rural Councils with four councilors were created to assist now re-named Barrio Lieutenant, now known as Barangay Captain. The body was later renamed Barrio Council. It was apparent that there had been slight changes in our form of local government.
