Terms of Service

These Terms of Service govern your use of the Barangay Balibago, Lian E-Services Portal ("the Portal"). By creating an account or using any service on the Portal, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Portal you can still transact in person at the Barangay Hall.

1. Eligibility & Accounts

• The Portal is for residents of Barangay Balibago, Lian, Batangas. Registration requires a valid government ID and a one-time device location check to confirm residency.
• A new account is pending verification until an Admin or Secretary reviews and approves it; access to services is granted only once verified. We may reject an account if the ID or location cannot be confirmed.
• One account per resident. You're responsible for keeping your username and password confidential and for all activity under your account.
• Information you submit must be true, accurate, and your own impersonating another resident or submitting a fraudulent ID is grounds for account rejection or termination, and may be reported to barangay officials or the police.

2. Services Offered

• Document Request Barangay Clearance, Certificate of Indigency, Certificate of Residency, and Barangay ID. Online requests from verified residents are issued right away (free documents immediately, others once payment is confirmed), with a set number of printable copies; some documents carry a fee. The Barangay may revoke a document issued in error.
• Court Reservation booking the barangay court for a date/time, subject to availability. A reservation is confirmed as soon as its fee is paid; see the reservation policy in section 3. The barangay may block dates for its own use.
• Census voluntary participation in the community census; submissions are reviewed and may be merged with your existing resident record by a Barangay Health Worker or the Secretary.
• Announcements & Chatbot informational only; the chatbot answers common questions with pre-set rules and is not a substitute for official confirmation from barangay staff.

Any of these services may be temporarily disabled by the Barangay (shown on the Services page as "Temporarily unavailable") without affecting documents you already have you can still view and print those, and still see your existing court reservations.

3. Fees & Payment

Where a document carries a fee, payment is processed through PayMongo. During development and demonstration, payments run in PayMongo's test mode no real money is charged. A paid document is issued only once payment is confirmed, and a request cancelled before paying is never issued. The Barangay does not store your card or e-wallet details; see our Privacy Policy.

Court reservation policy

You agree to this policy each time you book the court, before you pay:

• Your reservation is confirmed as soon as your payment goes through.
• Reservations are paid in advance and cannot be cancelled or refunded at your request.
• Need a different date? Contact the barangay hall ((043) 000-0000) at least 3 days before your reservation and we will move it once, free of charge.
• For an emergency (illness, death in the family, calamity), contact the barangay hall ((043) 000-0000) even if it is less than 3 days before. We will try to help.
• If the barangay has to cancel or move your reservation, we will contact you to arrange a new schedule or a refund of your full payment.

4. Acceptable Use

• Do not submit false information, forged IDs, or spoofed location data.
• Do not attempt to access another resident's account or data, or to bypass the Portal's verification or access controls.
• Do not use the document request, blotter, or court reservation features for harassment, fraud, or any unlawful purpose.
• Do not attempt to disrupt, overload, or probe the Portal's systems.

Violation of these terms may result in your account being suspended, rejected, or reported, at the Barangay's discretion.

5. Accuracy & Availability

We make reasonable efforts to keep records and announcements accurate and the Portal available, but the Portal is provided "as is" without warranty of uninterrupted or error-free operation. A document you print from the Portal is valid as printed: each copy is numbered and carries a QR code anyone can scan to confirm it is genuine, not revoked, and still valid. Reproducing a copy beyond those issued to you is not allowed.

6. Data Retention & Automatic Deletion

To keep your information secure and to store no more than the Barangay needs, personal data on the Portal is kept only for a limited time and then permanently deleted automatically. In particular:

• An issued document's copies can be printed for 30 days. After that, the personal details on the request (date and place of birth, email, contact number, and purpose) are permanently erased and no more copies can be printed, so print your copies within that time. A minimal record (reference code, document type, your name, the release date, and the fee) is kept so the document's QR code can still be verified and barangay transactions remain auditable.
• Your government ID photo and registration location are deleted 30 days after your registration is reviewed.
• Rejected or withdrawn requests, rejected registrations, reviewed census forms, and unpaid court reservations are also deleted after a set period.

Deleted data cannot be recovered. The full schedule (what is deleted, when, what is kept, and how backups are handled) is in the Privacy Policy. Official census, blotter, and financial records are kept as required by law.

7. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms and the Privacy Policy from time to time. Continued use of the Portal after an update means you accept the revised terms. Material changes will be announced on the Portal's Announcements page.

8. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, including the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) and the Local Government Code.