A “SITIO” is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a sitio’s location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own barangay if its population were high enough. Sitios are similar to puroks, but the latter are more urban and closer to the center of the barangay, especially the barangay hall.
The term is derived from the Spanish word sitio meaning “place”. During the Spanish colonial period the colonial government employed the reducción policy, allowing the remapping of various settlements.
Several far-flung hamlets were identified, named, and organized into “sitios” so that municipalities and cities could more easily be governed through the barangay system, then known as the barrio system.
A sitio does not have an independent administration; it is established purely for organizational purposes only. While a barangay sometimes referred to by its archaic name barrio is the smallest administrative division and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan areas, the term often refers to an inner city neighbourhood, a suburb, or a suburban neighborhood.
The word barangay originated from balangay, a kind of boat used by a group of Austronesian peoples when they migrated to the Philippines.
Municipalities and cities are subdivided into barangays, with the exception of the municipalities of Adams in Ilocos Norte and Kalayaan in Palawan, each containing a single barangay. Barangays are sometimes informally subdivided into smaller areas called purok, or barangay zones consisting of a cluster of houses for organizational purposes, and sitios, which are territorial enclaves—usually rural—far from the barangay center. As of March 2020, there are 42,046 barangays throughout the Philippines.
Senator Manuel Lito Lapid filed Senate Bill Nos. 1882, 1883, and 1884, converting Pio Model Community in Barangay Pio, Municipality of Porac, sitios Camatchile and Malabni respectively, both in Barangay Mawacat, Municipality of Floridablanca, all in the province of Pampanga.
The creation or conversion of a barangay translates to a trickling down of government services, projects and programs to the community. Under the Local Government Code, the following are the basic services and facilities that must be set up by a barangay: Agricultural Support Services; Health and Social Welfare Services (including a barangay health center and day care center; Katarungang Pambarangay, Infrastructure Facilities (multi-purpose hall, plaza, sports center, etc.); Information and Reading Center; and Satellite Public Market, where viable. A barangay also has its own revenue generating and taxing powers to fund its programs and projects. The aim of these bills is to make these programs, services and facilities closer to the constituents of the proposed barangays.
Lapid explained that Pio Model Community is a 50-hectare property donated in 1992 to serve as a resettlement site for evacuees from nearby barangays that were greatly devastated by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. Since then, it has developed into a community with 15.3 hectares for residential area, 26.3 hectares equipped with community facilities and 8.42 hectares of road network. The proposed conversion of this model community into a new barangay, separate and distinct from Barangay Pio, is necessary to accelerate the delivery of essential services to its constituents, whose social and economic well-being have not completely recovered from the damages brought about by said catastrophe.
The senator from Pampanga also explained that the conversion of Sitio Camatchile in Barangay Nabuklod and Sitio Malabni in Barangay Mawacat, both in the Municipality of Floridablanca, into barangays will retain their identities based on their more or less permanent natural boundaries. Their metes and bounds shall be surveyed, cost of which shall be borne by the local government units concerned. The first set of officials shall be appointed by the Provincial Governor, in consultation with the Municipal Mayors and Representatives of the District and shall hold office until such time their successors have been duly elected and qualified. All existing public infrastructure and facilities for public use existing therein at the time of the approval of this proposed bill are transferred without cost or compensation to and shall be administered by the barangays. These soon-to-be barangays shall also be entitled to Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) shares pursuant to Section 285 of Republic Act No. 7160, as amended, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991.
The conversion of these sites into barangays will ensure that the inhabitants of the sitios would be able to elect their own leaders and representatives in the barangay governments, who will, in turn, be responsive and accountable to the unique needs and concerns of the community.