Eva Cañete Loreto

Eva Cañete Loreto holds the position of Punong Barangay in Barangay Poblacion Zone 18, a barangay in the City of Baybay, serving the 2023 - 2026 term. As Punong Barangay, Eva leads the elected Sangguniang Barangay and represents the community's local government unit.

The Punong Barangay is the chief executive of the barangay, the smallest and most local unit of government in the Philippines. Duties under Section 389 of RA 7160 include enforcing barangay ordinances, organising and leading an emergency response team, calling and presiding over sessions of the Sangguniang Barangay, maintaining public order through the Lupong Tagapamayapa (peace council), and supervising the delivery of basic services to residents.

Barangay Poblacion Zone 18 is one of 92 barangays in the City of Baybay, in the province of Leyte, in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Census of Population and Housing, Barangay Poblacion Zone 18 had a population of 1,595 residents — the constituency that Eva serves as Punong Barangay. Leyte is classified as a 1st by the Bureau of Local Government Finance.

Elected through the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, Eva Cañete Loreto is serving the current four-year term established under Republic Act No. 12232, which extended the barangay official's term from three years to four. The next BSKE will be held on Monday, November 2, 2026, following COMELEC Resolution No. 11191.

A Philippine barangay's Sangguniang Barangay is composed of one Punong Barangay, seven Sangguniang Barangay Members (kagawads), a Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Chairperson representing the youth sector, a Barangay Secretary, and a Barangay Treasurer. Together, these officials administer the smallest unit of Philippine local government and deliver frontline services — from barangay clearance issuance to peace and order, from public health assistance to the barangay's share of the Internal Revenue Allotment.