NOTES ON CRIMINAL PROCEDURE IN THE PHILIPPINES

1. HOW THE CRIMINAL SYSTEM WORKS IN THE PHILIPPINES:

The Philippine criminal justice system is composed of five pillars: law
enforcement, prosecution, judiciary, penology and the community.
A. Law Enforcement
The law enforcement consists of the officers and men of the Philippine
National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and other agencies.
When they learn of the commission of crimes or discover them, their duty is to
1. Investigate the crime which may take the form of surveillance and
observation of suspects, other persons and premises; interviewing persons with
knowledge of facts directly or indirectly connected with the offense; taking
photographs; arranging for entrapment; searching premises and persons
subject to constitutional and statutory safeguards; and examining public and
other available records pertaining to the persons involved.
2. Arrest suspects by virtue of a warrant of arrest issued by a judge on
the basis of evidence submitted by them or under circumstances justifying a
warrantless arrest.
Exception to arrest with warrant - Instances of warrantless arrest:
1. When in his presence, the person to be arrested has
committed, is actually committing of is attempting to commit an
offense;
2. When an offense has in fact just been committed, and
he has personal knowledge of the facts indicating that the
person to be arrested has committed it; and
3. When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has
escaped from penal establishment or place where he is serving
final judgment or temporarily confined while his case is pending
or he has escaped while being transferred from one confinement
to another.
3. Refer the case and the suspects to the Office of the
Prosecutors Office

Public

B. Prosecution of Cases
The investigation and prosecution of all cases involving violation of penal
laws are lodged with the Department of Justice through its National
Prosecution Service (NAPROSS). The NAPROSS is composed of the Prosecution
Staff in the Office of the Secretary of Justice headed by the Chief State
Prosecutor, the Regional State Prosecution Offices and the Provincial and City
Prosecution Offices headed by the Provincial Prosecutor and City Prosecutor.

The DOJ is headed by

Undersecretaries assisting him.

the

Secretary

of

Justice

with

three

The prosecution starts the moment the law enforcer, the complainant or
public officer in charge of the enforcement of the law alleged to have been
violated files case against the suspected criminal. With such filing, preliminary
investigation will set in and the second stage in the life of a criminal action is in
progress.
Preliminary investigation is the stage at which the public prosecutor
evaluates the finding of public prosecutor evaluates the finding of the police or
the evidence submitted directly by a complainant or public officer in charge of
the enforcement of the law alleged to have been violated.
It bears emphasis that aside from a preliminary investigation, there is
another type of investigation which a prosecutor may conduct, and this is what
is called an inquest investigation, which is an informal and summary
investigation conducted by a public prosecutor in criminal cases involving
persons arrested and detained without the benefit of a warrant of arrest for the
purpose of determining whether or not said persons should remain under
custody and correspondingly be charged in court.
C. Judicial Process
If the preliminary investigation results in the finding of probable cause, the
public prosecutor will file the corresponding information in court, thus starting
the judicial process.
Stages of Criminal Action:
1.
Arraignment the information against the accused is read to him
in open court. The accused is asked how he pleads either guilty or not guilty
If he refuses to plead, a plea of not guilty will be entered against him
If accused pleads not guilty the case is set for pre-trial
2.

Pre-Trial the following matters shall be considered:

a. plea bargaining
b. stipulation of facts
c. marking for identification of evidence of the parties
d. waiver of objections to admissibility of evidence
e. modification of the order of trial if the accused admit the charge
but interposes a lawful defense.

3.
Trial - after entering a plea, the accused shall have fifteen (15)
days to prepare for trial. The trial shall commence within thirty (30) days from
receipt of the pre-trial order

4.
Judgment the adjudication by the trial court that the accused is
guilty or not guilty.
-

It must be in writing and must set forth clearly and distinctly the facts
and the law on which they are based

The presence of the accused at the promulgation of judgment is

mandatory in all cases except: (a) where the conviction is for a light
offense, in which case the accused may appear through counsel or
representative; (b) where the judgment is for acquittal, in which case
the presence of the accused is not necessary; (c) where the accused
was tried in absentia (an instance where the accused jumped bail), in
which case notice of promulgation of judgment is sufficient.

5.

New Trial or Reconsideration

6.

Appeal
- any party may appeal from a judgment or final order, unless an
accused will be placed in double jeopardy.
D. Penal or Correctional Process

2. POWERS OF THE POLICE AND PROSECUTORS:

I.

Powers of the Police:

a.
To enforce laws and ordinances relative to the protection of lives
and properties;
b.
To maintain peace and order and take all necessary steps to
ensure public safety;
c.
To investigate and prevent crime, effect the arrest of criminal
offenders, bring offenders to justice and assist in their prosecution;
d.
To detain arrested person/s for a period not beyond what is
prescribed by law, informing the persons so detained of all rights under
the constitution; and,
e.
To exercise the general powers to make arrest, search and seizure
and enforce pertinent laws.

II.

Powers of Prosecutors:

The public prosecutor shall prosecute, direct and control all criminal
actions commenced either by a complaint or information.

3. WHETHER PLEA BARGAINING EXISTS:

Yes, plea bargaining is allowed under Philippine rules specially under the
Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure
General rule:
Plea bargaining happens during pre-trial (Rule 118, Section 1(a)).
The court may consider plea bargaining in which the accused may plead to a
lesser offense with the consent of the prosecutor and the offended party. But
any person charged under the provisions of the Comprehensive Dangerous
Drugs Act shall not be allowed to avail of the provision on plea bargaining.
Exception:
A few judges I know when interviewed mentioned that they allow plea
bargaining in their courts even while the case is on-going provided that the
same has the consent of the lawyer of the accused, the private complainant
with the conformity of the public prosecutor.