SC: The power of Punong Barangay under RA No. 9262 to issue Barangay Protection Order (BPO)  is purely executive in nature Petitioner contends that protection orders involve the exercise of judicial power which, under the Constitution, is placed upon the "Supreme Court and such other lower courts as may be established by law" and, thus, protests the delegation of power to barangay officials to issue protection orders. As clearly delimited by the aforequoted provision, the BPO issued by the Punong Barangay or, in his unavailability, by any available Barangay Kagawad, merely orders the perpetrator to desist from (a) causing physical harm to the woman or her child; and (2) threatening to cause the woman or her child physical harm. Such function of the Punong Barangay is, thus, purely executive in nature, in pursuance of his duty under the Local Government Code to "enforce all laws and ordinances," and to "maintain public order in the barangay." We have held that "(t)he mere fact that an officer is required by law to inquire into the existence of certain facts and to apply the law thereto in order to determine what his official conduct shall be and the fact that these acts may affect private rights do not constitute an exercise of judicial powers." In the same manner as the public prosecutor ascertains through a preliminary inquiry or proceeding "whether there is reasonable ground to believe that an offense has been committed and the accused is probably guilty thereof," the Punong Barangay must determine reasonable ground to believe that an imminent danger of violence against the woman and her children exists or is about to recur that would necessitate the issuance of a BPO. The preliminary investigation conducted by the prosecutor is, concededly, an executive, not a judicial, function. The same holds true with the issuance of a BPO. FOLLOW US! Phil. Juris. Official | Website 📎 https://bit.ly/m/AttyEblogger Visit 🔎 "Doctrine" section 🛒 Shopple store: 📎 https://shopple.co/Lex-curiae Visit 🔎 "Laws and current events" You can help our Pages by clicking the orange box 🟧 at the bottom of our article. We are grateful for your support. ❤️ 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇