Presidential Decree No. 528 (PD 528) — Vesting Additional Authority and Responsibility in Barangays (Citizens' Assemblies)
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. 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.
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.
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.
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."
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
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
