Short answer. Yes. The Act provides that the parties may be accompanied by a non-lawyer advocate in any proceeding before the Punong Barangay. Not having a lawyer is therefore not a reason to go on your own, and the permission is written broadly enough to cover the whole barangay process.
What the law says
The parties may be accompanied by a non-lawyer advocate in any proceeding before the Punong Barangay.
RA 9262, Section 14 — Barangay Protection Orders. Read the full provision →
“Any proceeding” is the operative phrase
The permission is not limited to a single appearance or to the moment the application is handed over. It is written to cover any proceeding before the Punong Barangay, which means you should not be turned away at a later stage on the basis that the person with you is not a lawyer. Note also that it says the parties, so it is not a concession granted to one side. If an official is unsure, the sentence is short and worth having to hand.
The Act does not prescribe who that person is
There is no register of advocates to consult and no qualification stated. In practice people bring a relative, a social worker, a church or community worker, or someone from an organisation that works on these cases. The categories the Act elsewhere trusts to bring an application on a woman's behalf — relatives within the fourth civil degree, social workers of the DSWD or of the local government, her counsellor or healthcare provider — are a reasonable guide to the kind of person contemplated, though the sentence itself imposes no limit.
Accompanying is not the same as representing
The distinction matters and is easy to blur in the room. The application still has to be in writing, signed and verified under oath by the applicant, and an advocate cannot supply that oath for you. What the person with you can realistically do is help you keep track of what is being asked, note what you are told, and make sure the papers you leave with are complete. Whoever comes is also coming into a matter the Act treats as confidential, which is worth saying to them beforehand.
In court, the equivalent is counsel
This provision is about barangay proceedings, so do not carry it across to a court hearing. There, the route is to ask for counsel in the application itself: on such a request the court is directed to immediately have the Public Attorney's Office represent you at the hearing, and lack of access to family or conjugal resources — such as when they are controlled by the perpetrator — qualifies you for that representation. A private lawyer acting without charge is not barred from appearing for you either.
Related provisions
- RA 9262, Section 11 — How To Apply
- RA 9262, Section 35 — Rights Of Victims
- RA 9262, Section 44 — Confidentiality