RULE 116 - ARRAIGNMENT AND PLEA

Section 1. Arraignment and plea; how made. - (a)

The accused must be arraigned before the court
where the complaint or information was filed or
assigned for trial. The arraignment shall be made
in open court by the judge or clerk by furnishing
the accused with a copy of the complaint or
information, reading the same in the language or
dialect known to him, and asking him whether he
pleads guilty or not guilty. The prosecution may
call at the trial witnesses other than those named
in the complaint or information.

(b) The accused must be present at the

arraignment and must personally enter his plea.
Both arraignment and plea shall be made of
record, but failure to do so shall not affect the
validity of the proceedings.

(c) When the accused refuses to plead or makes a

conditional plea, a plea of not guilty shall be
entered for him.

(d) When the accused pleads guilty but presents

exculpatory evidence, his plea shall be deemed
withdrawn and a plea of not guilty shall be entered
for him.

(e) When the accused is under preventive

detention, his case shall be raffled and its records
transmitted to the judge to whom the case was
raffled within three (3) days from the filing of the
information or complaint. The accused shall be
arraigned within ten (10) days from the date of the
raffle. The pre-trial conference of his case shall be
held within ten (10) days after arraignment.

(f) The private offended party shall be required to

appear at the arraignment for purposes of plea
bargaining, determination of civil liability, and
other matters requiring his presence. In case of
failure of the offended party to appear despite due
notice, the court may allow the accused to enter a
plea of guilty to a lesser offense which is
necessarily included in the offense charged with
the conformity of the trial prosecutor alone.

(g) Unless a shorter period is provided by special

law or Supreme Court circular, the arraignment
shall be held within thirty (30) days from the date
the court acquires jurisdiction over the person of
the accused. The time of the pendency of a motion
to quash or for a bill or particulars or other causes
justifying suspension of the arraignment shall be
excluded in computing the period.

Sec. 2. Plea of guilty to a lesser offense. – At

arraignment, the accused, with the consent of the
offended party and prosecutor, may be allowed by
the trial court to plead guilty to a lesser offense
which is necessarily included in the offense
charged. After arraignment but before trial, the
accused may still be allowed to plead guilty to said
lesser offense after withdrawing his plea of not
guilty. No amendment of the complaint or
information is necessary.

Sec. 3. Plea of guilty to capital offense; reception

of evidence. – When the accused pleads guilty to a
capital offense, the court shall conduct a searching
inquiry into the voluntariness and full
comprehension of the consequences of his plea
and shall require the prosecution to prove his guilt
and the precise degree of culpability. The accused
may present evidence in his behalf.

Sec. 4. Plea of guilty to non-capital offense;

reception of evidence, discretionary. – When the
accused pleads guilty to a non-capital offense, the
court may receive evidence from the parties to
determine the penalty to be imposed.

Sec. 5. Withdrawal of improvident plea of guilty.–

At any time before the judgment of conviction
becomes final, the court may permit an
improvident plea of guilty to be withdrawn and be
substituted by a plea of not guilty.

Sec. 6. Duty of court to inform accused of his right

to counsel. – Before arraignment, the court shall
inform the accused of his right to counsel and ask
him if he desires to have one. Unless the accused
is allowed to defend himself in person or has
employed counsel of his choice, the court must
assign a counsel de officio to defend him.

Sec. 7. Appointment of counsel de officio. – The

court, considering the gravity of the offense and
the difficulty of the questions that may arise, shall
appoint as counsel de officio such members of the
bar in good standing who, by reason of their
experience and ability, can competently defend
the accused. But in localities where such members
of the bar are not available, the court may appoint
any person, resident of the province and of good
repute for probity and ability, to defend the
accused.

Sec. 8. Time for counsel de officio to prepare for

arraignment. – Whenever a counsel de office is
appointed by the court to defend the accused at
the arraignment, he shall be given a reasonable
time to consult with the accused as to his plea
before proceeding with the arraignment.

Sec. 9. Bill of particulars. – The accused may,

before arraignment, move for a bill of particulars
to enable him properly to plead and prepare for
trial. The motion shall specify the alleged defects
of the complaint or information and the details
desired.

Sec. 10. Production or inspection of material

evidence in possession of prosecution. – Upon
motion of the accused showing good cause and
with notice to the parties, the court, in order to
prevent surprise, suppression, or alteration, may
order the prosecution to produce and permit the
inspection and copying or photographing of any
written statement given by the complainant and
other witnesses in any investigation of the offense
conducted by the prosecution or other
investigating officers, as well as any designated
documents, papers, books, accounts, letters,
photographs, object, or tangible things not
otherwise privileged, which constitute or contain
evidence material to any matter involved in the
case and which are in the possession or under the
control of the prosecution, police, or other law
investigating agencies.

Sec. 11. Suspension of arraignment. – Upon

motion by the proper party, the arraignment shall
be suspended in the following cases:

(a) The accused appears to be suffering from an

unsound mental condition which effectively
renders him unable to fully understand the charge
against him and to plead intelligently thereto. In
such case, the court shall order his mental
examination and, if necessary, his confinement for
such purpose;

(b) There exists a prejudicial question; and

(c) A petition for review of the resolution of the

prosecutor is pending at either the Department of
Justice, or the Office of the President; provided,
that the period of suspension shall not exceed
sixty (60) days counted from the filing of the
petition with the reviewing office.

RULE 117 - MOTION TO QUASH

Section 1. Time to move to quash. – At any time
before entering his plea, the accused may move to
quash the complaint or information.

Sec. 2. Form and contents. – The motion to quash

shall be in writing, signed by the accused or his
counsel and shall distinctly specify its factual and
legal grounds. The court shall consider no ground
other than those stated in the motion, except lack
of jurisdiction over the offense charged.

Sec. 3. Grounds. – The accused may move to quash

the complaint or information on any of the
following grounds:

(a) That the facts charged do not constitute an

offense;

(b) That the court trying the case has no

jurisdiction over the offense charged;

(c) That the court trying the case has no

jurisdiction over the person of the accused;

(d) That the officer who filed the information had

no authority to do so;

(e) That it does not conform substantially to the

prescribed form;

(f) That more than one offense is charged except

when a single punishment for various offenses is
prescribed by law;

(g) That the criminal action or liability has been

extinguished;

(h) That it contains averments which, if true,

would constitute a legal excuse or justification;
and

(i) That the accused has been previously convicted

or acquitted of the offense charged, or the case
against him was dismissed or otherwise
terminated without his express consent.
Sec. 4. Amendment of complaint or information. –
If the motion to quash is based on an alleged
defect of the complaint or information which can
be cured by amendment, the court shall order that
an amendment be made.

If it is based on the ground that the facts charged

do not constitute an offense, the prosecution shall
be given by the court an opportunity to correct the
defect by amendment. The motion shall be granted
if the prosecution fails to make the amendment, or
the complaint or information still suffers from the
same defect despite the amendment.

Sec. 5. Effect of sustaining the motion to quash. –

If the motion to quash is sustained, the court may
order that another complaint or information be
filed except as provided in section 6 of this rule. If
the order is made, the accused, if in custody, shall
not be discharged unless admitted to bail. If no
order is made or if having been made, no new
information is filed within the time specified in the
order or within such further time as the court may
allow for good cause, the accused, if in custody,
shall be discharged unless he is also in custody of
another charge.

Sec. 6. Order sustaining the motion to quash not a

bar to another prosecution; exception. – An order
sustaining the motion to quash is not a bar to
another prosecution for the same offense unless
the motion was based on the grounds specified in
section 3 (g) and (i) of this Rule.

Sec. 7. Former conviction or acquittal; double

jeopardy. – When an accused has been convicted
or acquitted, or the case against him dismissed or
otherwise terminated without his express consent
by a court of competent jurisdiction, upon a valid
complaint or information or other formal charge
sufficient in form and substance to sustain a
conviction and after the accused had pleaded to
the charge, the conviction or acquittal of the
accused or the dismissal of the case shall be a bar
to another prosecution for the offense charged, or
for any attempt to commit the same or frustration
thereof, or for any offense which necessarily
includes or is necessarily included in the offense
charged in the former complaint or information.

However, the conviction of the accused shall not

be a bar to another prosecution for an offense
which necessarily includes the offense charged in
the former complaint or information under any of
the following instances:
(a) the graver offense developed due to
supervening facts arising from the same act or
omission constituting the former charge;

(b) the facts constituting the graver charge

became known or were discovered only after a
plea was entered in the former complaint or
information; or

(c) the plea of guilty to the lesser offense was

made without the consent of the prosecutor and of
the offended party except as provided in section
1(f) of Rule 116.

In any of the foregoing cases, where the accused

satisfies or serves in whole or in part the
judgment, he shall be credited with the same in
the event of conviction for the graver offense.

Sec. 8. Provisional dismissal. – A case shall not be

provisionally dismissed except with the express
consent of the accused and with notice to the
offended party.

The provisional dismissal of offenses punishable by

imprisonment not exceeding six (6) years or a fine
of any amount, or both, shall become permanent
one (1) year after issuance of the order without
the case having been revived. With respect to
offenses punishable by imprisonment of more than
six (6) years, their provisional dismissal shall
become permanent two (2) years after issuance of
the order without the case having been revived.

Sec. 9. Failure to move to quash or to allege any

ground therefore. – The failure of the accused to
assert any ground of a motion to quash before he
pleads to the complaint or information, either
because he did not file a motion to quash or failed
to allege the same in said motion, shall be deemed
a waiver of any objections except those based on
the grounds provided for in paragraphs (a), (b),
(g), and (i) of section 3 of this Rule.