VESTING ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY IN BARANGAYS (CITIZENS' ASSEMBLIES)

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 528
• Sections: 6

Preamble

WHEREAS, to broaden the base of citizen participation in

nation building, Presidential Decree No. 86, dated December 31, 1972,

was promulgated creating Barangay (Citizen Assembly) in each barrio in

every municipality and municipal district and in each district in every

chartered city:

WHEREAS, pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 299, dated

September 19, 1973 a barangay chairman shall be deemed a person in

authority while a barangay leader shall be deemed an agent of a person

in authority;

WHEREAS, to improve peace and order and enhance the security

of life and property at the local level, it is imperative that barangay

officials participate more actively in the vital task of preserving

public order and repressing criminality, commensurate with their status

as persons in authority or agents of such persons;

WHEREAS, to avoid possible ambiguity about the role of

barrio and barangay officials in the maintenance of peace and order,

there is need to amend further Article 152 of Act No. 3815, otherwise

known as the Revised Penal Code as amended;

NOW, THEREFORE, I FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the

Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the

Constitution, and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September

21, 1972 and No. 1104, dated January 17, 1973 and General Order No. 1,

dated September 22, 1972, do hereby order and decree as follows:

Section 1

SECTION 1. The barangay Chairman, barrio captain, barangay

leader and barrio council members shall, within their respective

districts or barrios, assist the regular police agencies in the

maintenance of peace and order. For this purpose, such barangay or

barrio officials shall, in addition to their other functions, discharge

or perform their following responsibilities or duties.

To report immediately to the law enforcement police authorities

concerned, the occurrence of any crime, accident, public disturbance or

public nuisance of which he has personal knowledge or which may have

been brought to his attention.

To report immediately to the law enforcement police authorities

the presence of any known criminal or suspicious character in his

jurisdiction;

To conduct surveillance on suspicious activities or group

movements in his district or barrio or to report immediately to the

police authorities any positive finding or information he might gather;

To conduct surveillance of crime breeding areas in the

barangay and report his observation to the law enforcement/police

authorities.

To assist law enforcement/police authorities in tracing the

whereabouts of missing persons, arresting escaped prisoners and other

fugitives from justice and in recovering stolen properties or

confiscating contrabands.

To assist law enforcement/police authorities and other

competent authorities in the service or execution of warrants and other

judicial processes; and

To coordinate closely with and actively assist law

enforcement/police authorities in the drive against all forms of vices,

smuggling, carnapping, drug traffic and addiction, juvenile delinquency,

violation of special laws and all other forms of lawlessness.

Section 2

SEC. 2. The Secretary of National Defense and the Secretary

of Local Government and Community Development shall jointly exercise

functional control and supervision over the above-mentioned barangay and

barrio leaders in the discharge or performance of their

responsibilities and duties for the maintenance of peace and order and

shall jointly issue implementing instructions for this purpose.

Section 3

SEC. 3. Any barangay or barrio official or leader who

willfully and deliberately fails, without any justifiable cause, to

discharge or perform the aforestated responsibilities and duties shall,

upon conviction by competent court, be punished by imprisonment for not

less than six (6) months nor more than one (1) year and shall be

disqualified from holding any other public office or employment for

life.

Section 4

SEC. 4. Article one hundred and fifty-two, of Act Numbered

thirty-eight hundred and fifteen, as amended, is hereby further amended

to read as follows:

"ART. 152. Persons in Authority and Agents of Persons in

Authority.—Who shall be deemed as such.—In applying the provisions

of the preceding and other articles of this Code, any person directly

vested with jurisdiction, whether as an individual or as member of some

court or governmental corporation, board, or commission, shall be deemed

a person in authority. A barrio captain and a barangay chairman shall

also be deemed a person in authority.

"Any person who, by direct provision of law or by election or by

appointment by competent authority, is charged with the maintenance of

public order and the protection and security of life and property, such

as a barrio councilman, and barangay leader and any person who comes to

the aid of persons in authority, shall be deemed an agent of a person in

authority.

"In applying the provisions of Articles 148 and 151 of this Code,

teachers, professors, and persons charged with the supervision of public

or duly recognized private schools, colleges and universities, shall be

deemed persons in authority."

Section 5

SEC. 5. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 5th day of August in the year

of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.

(Sgd.)

FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President of the Philippines