Jesse Cabahug Araneta

Jesse Cabahug Araneta is the Punong Barangay currently leading Barangay Licuma, part of the city of Ormoc City in Leyte, serving the 2023 - 2026 term. Under Philippine law, the Punong Barangay is directly elected by the residents of the barangay.

Under the Local Government Code of 1991, the Punong Barangay leads the Sangguniang Barangay, signs ordinances and resolutions, represents the barangay in transactions with other government units, administers the barangay budget and appropriations, and oversees the Lupong Tagapamayapa that handles amicable settlement of disputes at the barangay level. The office is the most directly accountable elected position in the Philippine government.

Barangay Licuma is one of 110 barangays in the city of Ormoc City, in the province of Leyte, in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Census of Population and Housing, Barangay Licuma had a population of 1,158 residents — the constituency that Jesse serves as Punong Barangay. Leyte is classified as a 1st by the Bureau of Local Government Finance.

Barangay officials in the Philippines are elected during the synchronised Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE). Jesse currently holds office under the mandate established by the October 30, 2023 BSKE. The next BSKE, at which this position will again be contested, is scheduled for Monday, November 2, 2026.

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.