A barangay (Tagalog: barangay, [ˈbaraŋgaj]), also known by its former Spanish adopted name, the barrio, is the smallest local government unit in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward. Municipalities and cities are composed of barangays. In place names barangay is sometimes abbreviated as "Brgy" or "Bgy". As of December 31, 2006 there are a total of 41,995 barangays all over the Philippines.
The term barangay and its structure in the modern context was conceived during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, replacing the old barrios and municipal councils. The barangays were eventually codified under the 1991 Local Government Code.
A barangay is led and governed by its barangay officials. The "barangay officials" is considered as a Local Governent Unit (LGU) same as the Provicial and the Municipal Government. It is composed of a Punong Barangay, seven (7) Barangay Councils or Barangay Kagawad, and a Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Chairman which is considered as a member of the Council. Thus, there are eight (8) members of the Legislative Council in a barangay. Each member has its own respective committee where they are Chairmen of those committees. The Committees are the following: (1) Peace and Order Committee, (2) Infrastructure Committee, (3) Education Committee, (4) Health Committee, (5) Agriculture Committee, (6) Tourism Committee, (7) Finance Committee, and (8) Youth and Sports Committee. There are three (3) appointed members of each committee.