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; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
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;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
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;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
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;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
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: chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
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 the following responsibilities or duties:cralaw:red
(a) 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;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(b) To report immediately to the law
enforcement/police authorities the presence of any known criminal or
suspicious character in his jurisdiction;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(c) To conduct surveillance on suspicious activities
or group movements in his district or barrio and to report immediately
to the police authorities any positive finding or information he might
gather;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(d) To conduct surveillance of crime breeding areas
in the barangay and report his observation to the law
enforcement/police authorities;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(e) 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;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(f) To assist law enforcement/police authorities and
other competent authorities in the service or execution of warrants and
other judicial processes; and
(g) 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, violations of special laws and all other forms of
lawlessness. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 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. Any barangay or barrio official or leader
who wilfully 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. Article one hundred and fifty-two, of Act
Numbered thirty-eight hundred and fifteen, as amended, is hereby
further amended to read as follows:cralaw:red
"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. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
"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
thed 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. 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.
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