Tanod
Village watchman in the Philippines
title: "Tanod" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["law-enforcement-in-the-philippines", "barangays-of-the-philippines", "positions-of-subnational-authority", "tagalog-words-and-phrases"] description: "Village watchman in the Philippines" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanod" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Village watchman in the Philippines ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox Occupation"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Tanod |
| image | [[File:Tanod in Oton Iloilo.png |
| caption | A tanod directing traffic in Oton, Iloilo, February 2013 |
| activity_sector | Security |
| related_occupation | Security guard, Police officer |
| :: |
| name = Tanod | image = [[File:Tanod in Oton Iloilo.png|border|250px]] | caption = A tanod directing traffic in Oton, Iloilo, February 2013 | official_names = | type = | activity_sector = Security | competencies = | formation = | employment_field = | related_occupation = Security guard, Police officer
A **barangay *tanod''''', also known as a barangay police officer – and sometimes as BPSO (which can stand for barangay public safety officer, barangay peacekeeping and security officer, or **barangay police safety officer''') – is the lowest level of law enforcement officer in the Philippines. They primarily serve as watchmen for a barangay but also perform a variety of functions, supervised by the barangay captain. *Tanods'' are:
::quote "front liners in the preparation and response to any type of atrocities, public disorders, emergencies and even disasters or man-made calamities that threaten peace and order and public safety." ::
They may be unarmed or armed with a baton or bolo knife (a type of machete).
Duties
While tanods cooperate with the Philippine National Police (PNP), they are not a part of the PNP. They do not have the same authority as police officers and cannot arrest suspected criminals. The Local Government Code of the Philippines sets out the basic duties and responsibilities of a tanod. The Department of the Interior and Local Government provides training and a fuller definition of the ''tanod'''s duties.
Tanods may also either be unarmed or armed with simply a baton or a bolo knife, the latter a type of machete. They are not officially armed with guns, though some do carry arms. Those who do carry a gun may have obtained a private license as a private citizen and not as part of their official tanod duties; others carrying firearms while on duty may be deemed as doing so illegally.
While often described as volunteers, tanods may be receiving some payment and other benefits most of which would come from the Internal Revenue Allotment supplemented by other sources. Tanods in different parts of the country may be receiving different pay rates and benefits, being dependent on the wealth as well as needs of their local communities. In Cebu City, the city government permits each barangay to pay a tanod an "honorarium" of 4,000 pesos per month. In other places, tanods only receive 300 pesos per month.
In 2004, there were over 700,000 tanods. (There are about 140,000 personnel of the Philippine National Police.) The number of tanods per barangay varies, however, from city to city or from municipality to municipality. The city of Cebu authorizes each barangay to hire up to 20 tanods. In the province of Southern Leyte, there were 3,452 tanods as of 2012.
History
Tanods were well established even before the passage of the current Local Government Code of 1991.
Gallery
File:Tanod outside Brgy General Hughes Barangay Hall Iloilo City.JPG|A tanod outside the barangay hall of Brgy. General Hughes, City Proper, Iloilo City File:Barangay Hall and Tanod Outpost Brgy Arsenal Aduana, Iloilo City.jpg|The Barangay Hall tanod outpost at Barangay Arsenal Aduana, City Proper, Iloilo City, Philippines File:BarangaySchoolCrossing.jpg|A tanod helping students cross the road at an elementary school in San Miguel II, Dasmariñas, Cavite
References
References
- Philippine Congress HB00446
- "{{sic". Local Government Regional Resource Center Region VI, Dept. of Interior and Local Government.
- Recuenco, Aaron B.. (December 17, 2011). "'Tanod' tapped for police visibility". Manila Bulletin.
- Bayan, Nerie. (February 24, 2011). "The barangay tanod system". [[SunStar]].
- K, Justin Anjuli. (June 18, 2008). "Tanods use illegal guns". Cebu Daily News.
- "{{not a typo". Local Government Regional Resource Center.
- Codamon, Daniel B.. (October 12, 2012). "Banaue provides hospitalization, burial assistance to barangay officials". Philippine Information Agency.
- Borromeo, Rene U.. (February 22, 2013). "City treasurer urged: Release tanod, lupon stipend monthly". The Freeman.
- Torregoza, Hannah L.. (February 22, 2013). "No New Guest Candidates For UNA". Manila Bulletin.
- ""DILG Trains Barangay Tanods as Partners of Cops in Peace Drive" – Manila Bulletin, March 12, 2004".
- "Department of the Interior and Local Government Region 10 - DILG 10 holds Orientation for Barangay Tanods of 2nd District, CDOC on DRRM-CCA".
- "Southern Leyte to initiate Barangay Tanod Congress".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::