--The barangay, and its variants balanghai, biniday, and barangai was originally the name of ships of Malay origin. These boats had carrying capacities from 60-90 people. Additionally, the term barangay was also used to conote the ethnic groupings that settled in the Philippine archipelago during the pre-colonial period. As a result, Filipinos, even during this time, form organizations popularly called barangays.

--In the Boxer Codex of 1590, which describes the variant Filipino vessels both used for warfare and trade, also describes the possible appearance of the barangay craft. According to the writings, “These vessels are very light, with two or three tiers of rowers per band, when they have people for it sitting down; and counterweights are placed in these vessels made of very large bamboos, which are found in all the Philippine islands...These counterweights are placed outside the body of the vessel on both sides, and on them are seated those who row without much difficulty.”

--The resulting social structure that traces it's origins from these crafts can be classified as feudalistic. Despite it’s relatively small size, it had well-defined social stratifications which were both functionally interrelated and hierarchically arranged. The social divisions are as follows: The DATU, or the chiefly class, the MAHARLIKA, a class of free and notable persons, the TIMAGUA, or commoners and plebeians, and the ALIPIN, which are a class of dependents and slaves.