‘For the good of the barrio’ Community associations and the state in the rural Philippines 1935-1965

The men and women of Barrio Canderia described themselves in the early 1950s as being closely tied, that they were 'bound as one, moved as one'. The same sentiments were expressed in Puncan, the adjacent barrio where the whole population was said to possess 'a spirit of cooperation for the good of the barrio'. Social security is usually defined as the totality of public measures that provide some form of protection for the members of a particular society in specified situations of need and distress. State provision is regarded as modern and progressive, a function of specialized agencies in the formal sector of the economy. As the case of informal associations and networks in the Philippines shows, there has been a long history of non-state provision of individual and community welfare that stretches back for as long as the written record exists.Keywords: Barrio Canderia; rural Philippines; social security