WHEREAS, the Governor of Metropolitan Manila has organized the Barangay Community Brigades which have proven to be effective auxiliary groups for beautification, health, sanitation, peace and order, rescue and relief operations, traffic management, and other civic development programs which require barangay participation with the end in view of maintaining continued and effective partnership and rapport between government and people;

WHEREAS, towards this ends, it is imperative to mobilize the massive productive manpower resources at the local level for national progress ;

WHEREAS, the Barangay Community Brigades have been conceived as the means for tapping the potential manpower of the country and involving them in Barangay affairs; and

WHEREAS, in recognition of the active participation, fruitful contribution and constructive role played by the Barangay Community Brigades, it is deemed necessary to raise legal status and vest them with additional privileges be determined on the basis of Sections 1, 2 and 3 of Presidential Decree No. 144, as amended by Presidential Decree Nos. 659 and 898.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree:

SECTION 1. The Barangay Community Brigades consisting of the Barangay Volunteer Brigade, Barangay Ladies Auxiliary Brigade, Barangay Disaster Brigade, Barangay Traffic Auxiliary Brigade, Barangay Tanod Brigade and such other Brigades as may be organized by the Governor of Metropolitan Manila are hereby extended official recognition as such.

SEC. 2. 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. Person 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 a member of some court or government-owned or controlled corporation, board, or commission, shall 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 barangay councilman, barangay policeman, barangay leader, officers and members of the Barangay Community Brigades, and any person who comes to the aid of persons in authority, shall be deemed an agent or person in authority. A barangay captain and/or barangay chairman shall also be deemed 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. 3. The Secretary of Finance shall issue the rules and regulations necessary for the proper implementation of this Decree.

SEC. 4. All laws, decrees, orders, and rules and regulation or parts thereof, which are contrary to or inconsistent with this Decree, are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SEC. 5. This Decree, except as otherwise provided for herein, shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 4th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-seven.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) JACOBO C. CLAVE
		Presidential Executive Assistant