Barangay Santa Cruz

Barangay Santa Cruz is a small barangay in the municipality of San Francisco, located in the province of Southern Leyte, in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines.

According to the 2020 Census of Population and Housing conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, Barangay Santa Cruz had a population of 637. This made it the 9th largest of 22 barangays in San Francisco by population, placing it in the middle tier of the municipality. Residents of Barangay Santa Cruz accounted for approximately 4.74% of the total population of San Francisco, which stood at 13,436 in the same census year.

Between the 2015 and 2020 censuses, the population of Barangay Santa Cruz changed from 539 to 637, a shift of +18.2% over the five-year period. This places the barangay among those with growing populations in San Francisco. The Philippine Statistics Authority classifies Barangay Santa Cruz as rural, a designation applied to barangays with lower population density and predominantly non-built-up land use.

San Francisco is a municipality comprising 22 barangays, and serves as the governing unit directly responsible for local services in Barangay Santa Cruz, including public health, sanitation, peace and order, and civil registration. Within the wider province of Southern Leyte, which contains 500 barangays across its component cities and municipalities, Barangay Santa Cruz ranks 274th by 2020 population. Southern Leyte is classified as a 3rd by the Bureau of Local Government Finance, a category that reflects the province's annual regular income.

The barangay's legislative and executive affairs are handled by a Punong Barangay and the Sangguniang Barangay, elected nationwide during the Barangay and SK Elections. The next BSKE is scheduled for Monday, November 2, 2026, following the synchronized election schedule set by COMELEC Resolution No. 11191.