Table 2 shows the demographic profile of the respondents and the data portrays that the majority of the participants or 36.48% of the respondents’ age range is above 55. This simply means that the majority of barangay enforcers are mature individuals who are capable of carrying out their duties and obligations in the best interests of their community [12].

As presented in Table 2, it can be observed that the majority of the respondents, or 84.21% are male. This just serves to demonstrate that preservation of peace is a male-dominated endeavor. These assumptions and ideas are especially concerning when maintained by male officers, as some evidence suggests that a masculine police culture still exists in law enforcement [13] [14].

Meanwhile, it can be noticed that all of the respondents or 100.00% are already married. This just entails that the majority of barangay enforcers are capable of performing their duties and responsibilities in their barangay, as part of the community is also their own family.

On the other hand, the majority of the respondents, or 21.05% are elementary graduates, high school undergraduates, and high school graduates. The lack of higher education of the barangay enforcers signifies that they need training and seminars to be prepared with the necessary skills and information to preserve peace and order in their respective jurisdictions.

It can also be noticed from the table above that the majority of the respondents or 52.63% only have 1 - 3 years of experience as barangay enforcers. It just

proves that the majority of them still require ongoing training. This is true since, during the interview, one of the barangay enforcers revealed that when the Barangay Captain is replaced after the election, certain incumbent barangay enforcers who do not support the elected Barangay Chairman are also replaced. This is a common practice in the Philippines that might stifle the development of a Barangay Peace Officer.

Lastly, it can be perceived from the data above that majority of the respondents or 68.42% have attended only 1 - 3 training which is related to their functions as barangay enforcers. Training and seminar should be conducted to enhance the skills and abilities of any person to ensure the effectiveness of the performance of their duties [15].

It can be noticed from the data in Table 3 that the barangay enforcers themselves claimed that they are highly knowledgeable in assisting the police and lupong tagapamayapa in the maintenance of peace and order in their area of responsibility with a weighted mean of 4.74. Executive Order (EO) No. 546 authorized the PNP to deputize the village tanods as force multipliers in the implementation of the peace and order plan, subject to the occurrence of the appropriate Local Chief Executive through the Local Peace and Order Council (LPOC) [16].

At the same time, the barangay enforcers believed that they are highly knowledgeable in the conduct of patrol/ronda in the barangay, in detecting all forms of fire hazards and other public safety hazards/violations, and they can institute corrective measures with their capability and at the same time in coordinating closely with the barangay officials and the police in the campaign against crimes

with a weighted mean of 4.63. In the study of [17], the duties of the Barangay Security and Development Officers (BSDOs), also known as the Barangay Tanod, include intelligence gathering, neighborhood monitoring, and rondas. The barangay enforcers’ responsibilities are comparable to those of uniformed police officers. Residents acting as members of the ronda team receive and investigate citizen complaints, offer physical security to local officials, and arrange evacuations in emergencies, in addition to reporting suspicious-looking characters and monitoring the neighborhoods like citizens who perform “neighborhood watch” [18].

Still, despite the fact that barangay police, or “tanod,” are volunteers, they are willing to risk their lives to safeguard the safety of the people in their own barangays [19]. The PNP’s Barangay Peacemaking Action Team (BPAT) is a national program that encourages community empowerment to address real-time response in the event of a need, whether it’s for peace and order, security, or rescue [20] [21] [22]. Barangay enforcers, like law enforcers, play a coordinative role in the overall endeavor to address social and economic issues that affect their communities. If truth be told, they assist law enforcement in the fight against criminality, particularly street crime [23].

Lastly, the barangay enforcers also claimed that they are highly knowledgeable in conducting surveillance on crime breeding areas within the barangay/purok and report their observations/findings to the proper authorities or through Hotline “117” with a weighted mean of 4.53. The BPAT uses its authority to resolve conflicts and protect the area from illegal individuals [24]. BPAT, in particular, performs surveillance on crime hotspots, defends property, responds to community issues such as nuisance complaints, assists crime victims, answers call, and manages traffic safety.

To sum it all, it can be mentioned that barangay enforcers in this specific area are confident enough that they are highly knowledgeable on their duties and responsibilities.

The barangay enforcers’ level of knowledge in terms of their first responder’s role can be viewed in Table 4. The barangay enforcers of San Roque, San Isidro, Nueva Ecija are confident that they are highly knowledgeable in terms of receiving and recording an emergency call and calling the police immediately with a weighted mean of 4.68. According to [25], receiving information/complaints, recording information/complaints, or issuing directives is one of the tasks of barangay enforcers; hence, they must be well-versed in this activity. Generally, community first responders will be asked to respond to security alerts within a six-mile radius of their location while also being alerted to the emergency call.

Concurrently, the barangay enforcers assumed that they are highly knowledgeable in managing the traffic in a vehicular accident with a weighted mean of 4.42. As enforcers, it is their task to secure the scene for responder and motorist safety and conducts traffic control as necessary [26].

The respondents also believed that they are highly knowledgeable in responding to the crime scene immediately with a weighted mean of 4.32. Undeniably,

the barangay enforcers, as first responders are trained persons who respond to an emergency or crisis call within their community [27]. They will respond to emergencies and crises, as well as routine situations as needed; as a result, they must seek professional security advice, training, and management support from specialists in the field.

On the flip side, the participants are just knowledgeable in assisting the injured/perform first aid/bring the injured to the nearest hospital, securing the crime scene, and observing and taking note of the time of arrival, weather condition, surroundings, persons present, persons arriving and leaving the scene with a weighted mean of 3.95, 3.89, 3.84 accordingly. The initial responder, usually a patrol officer, must assess the situation and take action quickly. One priority is assessing the need for medical assistance and arranging for medical help [28]. After the situation has been secured, an officer may assist anyone who requires emergency assistance until medical personnel arrives [29]. The first officer on the scene, like with any other violent crime, must ensure that the victim receives medical assistance [30].

As first responders, they are trained to react quickly in emergencies. Their first responsibility is to make sure that people are safe, which may include evacuation, rescue, crowd control, and medical attention [31].

Lastly, part of their role is to start documenting all information about the collected evidence in the chain of custody document sheet. The chain of custody document sheet contains information such as case number, name of the person who reported the case, address and telephone number, location of the evidence, date/time of collecting the evidence, and a complete description of the item [32]. They should also take note of precise times, such as when they arrived, when the scene was secured, when medical personnel arrived, when the victim was taken, and other critical occurrences at the crime scene [33].

To sum it all, it can be declared that barangay enforcers in this specific area are confident enough that they are highly knowledgeable on their first responder’s role.

The barangay enforcers’ level of knowledge in terms of their patrolling and hazard identification duties can be seen in Table 5. The respondents affirmed that they are highly knowledgeable in the conduct of roving within their assigned area of responsibility with a weighted mean of 4.95. Apart from functioning as visible security in their respective community through ronda patrol activity, barangay enforcers can also perform intelligence monitoring as an extension of law enforcement and the first point of contact for citizens in the barangay [34]. The barangay enforcers as a roving officer will patrol a designated area for the length of time they are on shift. Their role includes a combination of deterring crime by being visible and recognizing occurrences as they occur, if not sooner [35].

The participants also declared that they are highly knowledgeable in reporting identified hazards with a weighted mean of 4.63. It is about providing a safe environment for all residents in the barangay that they report occurrences and hazards in their neighborhood as quickly as possible [36].

In addition to this, the respondents stated that they are highly knowledgeable in identifying hazards within the area of their responsibilities with a weighted mean of 4.58. Every day, barangay enforcers are on the front lines in their community, and they are frequently the first to notice hazards. Identifying hazards and reporting them is the first and most important step to improving safety and health in their area of responsibility [37].

Moreover, the respondents also acknowledged that they are highly knowledgeable in taking note of identified hazards with a weighted mean of 4.53. To effectively enforce the law, barangay enforcers must be proficient in identifying and recording potential hazards in their respective areas of responsibility.

However, the barangay enforcers confirmed that they are just knowledgeable

in terms of handling incidents encountered during the conduct of ronda with a weighted mean of 4.16. As roving patrol officers, barangay enforcers must respond to crises immediately and use their training and experience to go directly to a spot, assess the situation, and find the best strategy to maintain control and keep everyone protected [38]. This is why they must be well-versed in how these actions should be carried out effectively with the assistance of individuals who are experts in the sector.

To sum it all, it can be declared that barangay enforcers in this specific area are confident enough that they are highly knowledgeable in terms of their patrolling and hazard identification duties.

Table 6 shows the relationship between the level of knowledge of the barangay enforcers and their demographic profile. It can be observed that the level of knowledge of the barangay enforcers is correlated to their age which implies that the higher the age, the higher the level of their knowledge. Although it is commonly considered that wisdom comes with age and experience, factual and circumstantial evidence suggests that this is not always the case [39] but the fact that adults have a higher probability to be wiser than younger individuals because growth in wisdom is assumed to take time cannot be denied [40].

The level of knowledge of the barangay enforcers is significantly related to their years of experience as enforcers which is indicated in the table above. This only denotes that the longer the years in service, the higher the level of knowledge. The majority of specialists and laypeople think that learning from life experiences is necessary for wisdom to emerge but in reality, wisdom may only increase with age for those who actively seek it out and can learn from their life experiences [41].

On the opposite side, the respondents’ sex, civil status, highest educational attainment, and the number of training attended related to their function as barangay enforcers do not have any significant relationship to the level of their

knowledge in their duties and responsibilities, first responder’s role and patrolling and hazard identification duties.

Since barangay enforcers are in charge of maintaining peace and order in each barangay, it cannot be disputed that they face and overcome problems in carrying out their duties and obligations. As proof, during the interview with some of them, they stated some of the frequent issues they face regularly. Some of the respondents revealed that their patrol vehicle is not well-maintained. It can be claimed that law enforcement and public safety agencies face a common difficulty in the allocation and dispatch of emergency vehicles [42]. [43] added that while vehicles under both management plans received equally adequate preventive maintenance, police pool cars like patrol vehicles were significantly more likely to experience breakdowns, thus requiring more frequent shop visits per mile.

Lack of personal equipment like communication devices and raincoats that are very essential in the conduct of patrol is another problem cited by the barangay enforcers during the interview. In the course of the patrol, monitoring is an important task. Because of poor communication and a lack of equipment among the individuals assigned to this job, this monitoring is frequently insufficient, resulting in serious accidents [44].

As a result of their exposure to public locations, barangay enforcers are not free from the dangers posed by the COVID-19. Concerning this, the barangay enforcers stated that many residents are violating safety protocols such as wearing facemasks on the street during the pandemic, which is causing them a lot of grief. Despite mask regulations in numerous states and the Department of Health’s suggestion that masks be worn in public as a life-saving gesture, many people opt not to wear masks in public as a means of protecting themselves and others from COVID-19 infection [45].

An additional issue that has been brought up by the barangay enforcers is the lack of cooperation among the residents of the community. Because their cooperation may result in a better and more peaceful environment, it cannot be denied that constituents play an important role in maintaining peace and order at the barangay level.