Chapter 3

Methodology
This chapter discussed the research method used for the gathering of data for
the study. The research design, the participants of the research, the sampling technique,
the data gathering procedures, the instrument used to collect the data which is the
survey questionnaire and the statistical treatment of data are also presented.
Preceding legal research into this topic has tried to reveal when citizens commit
a crime or contrarily, when they act with defense or authority when enforcing the law.
Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, citizens are in principle allowed to enforce the
law as long as they do not themselves commit a crime, e.g. by causing harm. These
instigators have studied the law, substantial and procedural criminal law, in order to
specify the circumstances under which citizens will not be punished when causing harm
in the course of citizen law enforcement. They specify the legal norms authorizing, as in
cases of citizen’s arrest, or justifying harmful acts, as in cases of self-defense. Over time,
criminal law doctrine has developed principles for interpreting these norms. Article 11,
Justifying Circumstances, of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), among others, agrees that
citizens should not be punished when their actions or reactions are ‘proportionate’,
‘necessary’ and ‘immediate’ to the aggression or threat.
A number of permissible authors focused on another question: whether
eigenrichting is legal or not. Barba (2003) and Bantolinao (2005) reused the term
eigenrichting to define it as an action where citizens, trying to impose rights or reacting
to crimes, contravene legal limits. Both authors emphasize that limits are overstepped:
eigenrichting rebels against the state’s central authority and is illegal. Lapuz (1984) and
De Roos (2000) also refer to this aspect, though accenting another idea: to them,
eigenrichting actually embodies a clash between different normative visions – that of
the state and that of a citizen. For De Roos, it is ‘the violation of enforceable criminal
norms as a consequence of citizen’s own value perceptions, appraisals or interests’. This
strand of research refers to the legal nature of eigenrichting and the fact that citizens
and the law can have contrasting perceptions about what is acceptable in concrete
cases. However, it does not answer the question of how or why these normative ideas
endanger the authority of the state.
The questions guiding the researchers study are: 1. What are the norms
constraining citizen law enforcement?; and 2. What are the norms enabling citizen law
enforcement?
To answer these questions, the researchers reviewed the law: the law in the
books, SCRA and jurisprudence. The researchers explored the meaning of laws, looking
at their terms (exegesis) and the interpretations of the doctrine that applies to such. The
researchers systematically analyze the norms, extracting and studying the main
principles developed by the jurisprudence which, enriched by case law, are applied to
judge cases. These ideologies contain the normative ideas, the rationale that judges use
in their arguments when forming decisions. Parallel to this, there will be emblematic
criminal cases where a legal decision was taken. The researchers will study them to
interpret how they draw the line between lawful and unlawful citizen law enforcement.
Beyond drawing the line, the study will picture the normative ideas the courts apply
when they interpret the law in their decisions. Each case clarifies the meaning of legal
principles in controversial aspects. These cases are used later to compare the limits
accepted in society and the normative ideas sustaining them.
The legal methods applied helped the researchers define the legal space for
citizen’s arrest. The researchers also wanted to acquire a basis for assessment and
exploration of the living law. This concrete basis should draw a clear line between legal
and illegal citizen law enforcement, something that should help the researchers – with
the aid of socio-legal research. The legal research was, thus, planned to be descriptive –
coherent in its own right – because it is intended to clarify the current state of affairs in
citizen law enforcement. However, read with the socio-legal study, it should develop a
conceptual work.
Accomplishing this goal, thus, requires the application of different scopes in legal
research. Why different scopes? First, the researchers needed a theoretical scope to
understand legal norms and principles in their systemic functioning: this should enable
the researchers to handle the rationale, the arguments that courts apply in concrete
cases, understanding that when they decide, they create rationality within the system of
the rule of law. The researchers also needed an empirical scope, to scrutinize how legal
principles apply in the concrete cases they have also studied.
The methodology of the researchers’ legal study was in general terms
‘hermeneutic’ (Cano, 1991). It was hermeneutic because it aimed at understanding the
logic of standards, thus understanding within the frame of reference of a system of
meaning known as the rule of law. Hermeneutic study consists of interpreting the
meaning of something, whereby the interpretation has to respond to a system that
gives meaning to it (Bantolinao, 2003). This methodology was necessary because every
legal standard belongs to a more or less coherent system of standards, all seeking to
regulate conduct. The research, thus, consisted of looking for the meaning of the law,
where the researchers’ understanding had to be consistent within the whole system. In
this sense, an important part of the legal research consisted of finding
interrelationships, bringing order to questions and answers, filling blanks and finding
inconsistencies in standards and court decisions.
The researchers organized an academic legal study to answer two (2) clear
questions: 1. What are the standards constraining citizen’s arrest? and 2. What are the
standards enabling citizen’s arrest enforcement?
Answering these questions consisted mainly in a hermeneutic exercise. However,
this hermeneutic exercise did not end at an abstract level; the researchers had to make
sense of legal decisions in concrete cases as well, analyzing the concrete legal problems
present in them. The researchers had to adopt the perspective of a judge, trying at once
to approach and distance themselves from the case and the decision of the actual judge.

Research Design
The study used a combination of descriptive and correlational design. Descriptive
research was used to obtain information and discuss characteristics of the phenomenon
being explained in the study (Kowalczyk, 2011).
 The descriptive research design was used to describe and determine factors
affecting participants’ preference on the legal and social space for Citizen’s Arrest in
terms of the five (5) principles, namely, harm, parental, morality, donation and statist.
This study also used the correlational research design, concerned with the
relationship of two or more variables. More so, this method of research is used to
answer the hypothesis of the study.
The correlational design attempted to determine if there is a significant
relationship between the socio – economic profile of the participants and their
preference on the legal and social space for Citizen’s Arrest in line with the five (5)
principles.

Participants of the Study

This study used primary data, which were gathered from the survey to be
conducted. Since the population is undetermined, the acceptable populace is five
hundred (500) coming from the local government, PNP – Bacolod City and randomly
chosen citizens of Bacolod City. Twenty (20) participants came from the local
government, twenty (20) from the Philippine National Police – Bacolod City and the
remaining four hundred sixty (460) came from the randomly chosen citizens of Bacolod
City. The chosen participants, ages from fifteen (15) to sixty five (65) and above, for this
study are the main focus of Citizen’s Arrest since these civilians are alleged to be the
guardians of the law or the perpetrators of a crime.
Sampling Technique
This study used purposive sampling method. Due to limited time and resources,
it is ensured that everyone had an equal opportunity to be surveyed. The researchers
divided the population, Bacolod city into homogenous subgroups.

Attribute Category
Male
Gender
Female
15 - 20
Age 21 - 64
Older than 65
< 100, 000.00
Annual > 100, 001.00 - 500,
Gross 000.00
Income > 500, 000.00
Elementary Graduate
High School Graduate
Undergraduate
Educationa
College Graduate
l Level
Masters
Doctorate
Others

Research Instrument
The study provided a self – made survey questionnaire for the participants. All
answers from the survey were interpreted statistically and results were generated to
address the research objectives.
The survey questionnaire was based from the study’s objectives. It opens with
requiring the socio – economic profile of the participants to be filled out. Part one of the
survey included the Likert scale to determine which statements will likely affect the
preference of the participants. The statements are based on the five (5) principles,
namely, harm, parental, morality, donation and statist. The participants ticked off boxes
with the rating from 5 to 1. 5 being the most likely to affect, 4 being likely to affect, 3
being neutral, 2 being unlikely to affect and 1 being the most unlikely to affect. Part two
of the survey included areas of concern. The participants ticketed off boxes rating from
3 to 1; 3 being full observance, 2 being partial observance and 1 being no observance.
These questions in the questionnaire answered by the participants provided
meaningful results that answered the objectives of the study.

Data Gathering Procedure

The questionnaires were distributed among citizens of Bacolod City in their
corresponding Barangays. Before the researchers gave the participants the
questionnaire, they were asked if they are aware of Citizen’s Arrest. When the reply is
“no”, the researchers gave them a brief background of the provision of the law and
present them the questionnaire. The purpose of this study was also explained and gave
assurance that all the information and responses countered in the questionnaire are
confidential.
All of the data were presented, interpreted and analyzed to specifically describe
and identify the socio-economic profile of the citizens of Bacolod City. It was presented
using descriptive statistics in tables, computation of central tendencies especially mean
or the standard deviation.

Statistical Treatment of the Data

Since the research design is both descriptive and correlational in nature, this
study used T-test. This test was used to present the relationship of variables identified
while descriptive statistics involved the mean, median, mode, frequency, counts, and
percentage distribution. To answer questions, 1, 2 and 4, descriptive statistics like
frequency and percentage were used. Mean and standard deviation were used to
answer question number 3. And to determine the question number 5, t-test was used.