All barangays nationwide must now adopt a digital records management system under a new government mandate aimed at modernizing local governance.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) issued a memorandum circular requiring barangays to use the Local Government Unit Support System – Barangay Information Management System, a web-based platform for managing resident profiles, property records, financial transactions, ordinances and disaster response data.

The system has 11 interconnected modules that allow real-time monitoring and data sharing between barangays and higher local government units.

Only 9,774 of the country’s 42,011 barangays, or 23%, are actively using the system, according to the latest DILG report.

Another 14,008 barangays, or 33%, have undergone orientation training.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s has pushed to digitize government services.

Officials said the system will improve transparency and accountability while supporting better planning for development projects, budgets, peace and order programs and disaster risk reduction.

DILG assured the public that the system complies with the Data Privacy Act, with access limited to protect sensitive information.

The system is designed to help barangays move away from manual, paper-based record-keeping toward standardized digital data management that can support evidence-based governance at the grassroots level.