CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

Rule 110: Prosecution of Offenses

A. CRIMINAL ACTIONS, HOW INSTITUTED

Q: What is criminal action?

A: It is one by which the State prosecutes a person for an act or omission punishable by
law.

Q: How is criminal action instituted?

A: The institution of a criminal action depends upon whether the offense requires a
preliminary investigation.

1. Where a preliminary investigation is required, a criminal action is instituted by

filing the complaint with the proper officer for the purpose of conducting the
requisite preliminary investigation.

2. Where a preliminary investigation is not required, a criminal action is instituted

either:

a. By filing the complaint or information directly with the Municipal Trial Court of
Municipal Circuit Trail Court; or

b. By filing the complaint with the office of the prosecutor. (Section 1, Rule 110,
Rules of Court)

Note: 1. For Metro Manila and other chartered cities, the complaint shall be filed with the prosecutor
regardless of the imposable penalty (Section 1, Rule 110, Rules of Court)

2. Cases falling within the jurisdiction of the RTC are always commenced by information filed by the
prosecutor.

Q: Can the complaint or information be directly filed in the Regional Trial Court or
Metropolitan Trial Court or other chartered cities?
A: There is NO DIRECT FILING of an information or complaint with the RTC because its
jurisdiction covers offenses which require preliminary investigation. There is likewise
NO DIRECT FILING with the Metropolitan Trial Court because in Manila, including other
chartered cities, as a rule, the complaint shall be filed with the office of the prosecutor,
unless otherwise provided by their charters. In case of conflict between a city charter
and a provision of the Rules of Court, the former, being substantive law, prevails.

Q: What is the effect of institution of the criminal action on the prescriptive period?
A. GR: It interrupts the running of the period of prescription of the offense charged (Sec. 1)
XPN: Prescriptive periods of violations of special laws and municipal ordinances governed
by Act No. 3326 (An Act to Establish Periods of Prescription for Violations Penalized by
Special Laws and Municipal Ordinances and to Provide When Prescription shall Begin
to Run) shall only be interrupted by the filing of a complaint or information in court.
The filing of a complaint with the prosecutor or the proper officer for purposes of
conducting a preliminary investigation will not interrupt the prescriptive period
(Zaldivia v. Reyes, Jr., G.R. No. 102342, July 3, 1992).

Q: May the offended party go directly to court to file a criminal action?

A. GR: No. Before a complaint is filed in court, there should have been a confrontation
between the parties before the Lupon chairman. The Lupon secretary must certify that
no conciliation or settlement was reached, attested to by the Lupon chairman. The
complaint may also be filed if the settlement is repudiated by the parties.

XPNs:
1. Where the accused is under detention
2. Where a person has otherwise been deprived of personal liberty calling for
habeas corpus proceedings
3. Where actions are coupled with provisional remedies
4. Where the action may be barred by the statute of limitations

Q: What is the rule regarding the prescriptive periods of cases falling under the
authority of the Lupon?
A: The prescriptive period shall be suspended from the time of the filing of complaint with
the punong barangay which suspension shall not exceed 60 days. The prescriptive
period shall resume upon receipt of the certificate of repudiation or certificate to file
action [Sec. 410(c), LGC].

WHO MAY FILE CRIMES THAT CANNOT BE PROSECUTED DE OFFICIO

Q: What is the concept of an offense or crime that cannot be prosecuted de officio?
A: These are crimes or offenses which cannot be prosecuted except on complaint filed by
the offended party or if the offended party is a minor, by the parents, grandparents or
the guardian. All other crimes can be prosecuted de officio.

Note: These are also known as private crimes.

Q: Are all crimes initiated by a complaint or information filed by the prosecutor?

A: GR: Yes.
XPNs: Private crimes which may only be prosecuted by a complaint filed by the private
offended party, i.e.:
1. Concubinage
2. Adultery
3. Seduction
4. Abduction
5. Defamation
6. Acts of lasciviousness
Note: These are crimes which are by their nature cannot be prosecuted de officio Rape is now a crime against
persons by virtue of RA 8353.

Q: Who can legally file a complaint for crimes that cannot be prosecuted de officio?
A: 1. Adultery or concubinage- Only the offended spouse may file a complaint for
adultery or concubinage(Sec. 5).

Note: The offended spouse cannot institute a criminal action for adultery 1. Without including the guilty
parties if both are alive; or 2. If the offended party has consented to the offense or pardoned the offenders
(Sec. 5)

2. Seduction, abduction or acts of lasciviousness- prosecuted exclusively and

successively by the following persons in this order:

1. The offended party;

2. Offended party’s parents;
3. Offended party’s grandparents; or
4. Offended party’s guardian (Sec. 5).

Note: Such crimes cannot be prosecuted if the offender has been expressly pardoned by any of the
abovementioned parties (Sec. 5).

3. Defamation imputing to a person any of the foregoing crimes of concubinage,

adultery, seduction, abduction, rape or acts of lasciviousness- only by the party or
parties defamed (Article 360, last paragraph, Revised Penal Code)

Q: Are there instances where the State may initiate the action for seduction,
abduction or acts of lasciviousness in behalf of the offended party?
A: Yes, when the offended party:
1. Dies or becomes incapacitated before a complaint is filed; or
2. Has no known parents, grandparents or guardian (Sec. 5; Rule 110).

Q: Who may file a complaint on cases of unlawful acts in RA 7610 (Special Protection
of Children against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act)?
A: The complaint may be filed by the following:
1. Offended party;
2. Parents or guardians;
3. Ascendant or collateral relative within the third degree of consanguinity;
4. Officer, social worker or representative of a licensed child-caring institution;
5. Officer or social worker of the Department of Social Welfare and Development;
6. Barangay chairman; or
7. At least three (3) concerned, responsible citizens where the violation occurred (Sec.
27, RA 7160)

Q: May a minor file a complaint for seduction, abduction, or acts of lasciviousness?

A: GR: Yes, the offended party, even if a minor, has the right to initiate the prosecution of
such offenses independently of his parents, grandparents or guardian.

XPN: If the minor is:

1. Incompetent; or
2. Incapable of doing so (Sec. 5, Rule 110).

Note: If the minor fails to file a complaint, his parents, grandparents or guardian may file the same. The right
granted to the former shall be excusive and successive in the order herein provided (Sec.5Rule 110).

Q: Can the father file a complaint on behalf of his daughter for concubinage?
A: No. The rule allowing the parents, grandparents, and guardians to file a complaint on
behalf of the minor applies only to the offenses of seduction, abduction, and acts of
lasciviousness. A complaint for adultery or concubinage may be filed only by the offended
spouse.

Q: If the offended party in abduction, seduction, and acts of lasciviousness is of age,

can her parents file the complaint for her?
A: No. If the offended party is already of age, she has the exclusive right to file the complaint
unless she becomes incapacitated. The parents, grandparents, and guardian only have
exclusive, successive authority to file the case if the offended party is still a minor.

Q: Distinguish pardon from consent.

A:
Pardon Consent
Refers to past acts Refers to future acts
In order to absolve the accused from liability, In order to absolve the accused from liability,
it must be extended to both offenders it is sufficient even if granted only to the offending spouse

Q: Who can give pardon?

A:
1. Concubinage and adultery – only the offended spouse, not otherwise incapacitated.
2. Seduction, abduction and acts of lasciviousness:
a. The offended minor, if with sufficient discretion, can validly pardon the accused
by herself if she has no parents or where the accused is her own father and her mother
is dead;
b. The parents, grandparents or guardian of the offended minor, in that order,
extend a valid pardon in said crimes without the conformity of the offended party, even
if the latter is a minor;
c. If the offended woman is of age and not otherwise incapacitated, only she can
extend a valid pardon.

Note: The pardon refers to pardon before filing of the criminal complaint in court. Pardon effected after
the filing of the complaint in court does not prohibit the continuance of the prosecution of the offense.
Q: In cases of seduction, abduction or acts of lasciviousness may a minor extend
pardon?
A: Yes, but the pardon to be effective as to prevent prosecution of the accused must be
given by both parents and the offended party.

Q: Does the subsequent marriage of the accused and offended party extinguish the
criminal liability?
A: GR: The subsequent marriage between the party and the accused, even after the filing of
the complaint, extinguishes the criminal liability of the latter, together with that of the
coprincipals, accomplices and accessories.

XPNs:
1. Where the marriage was invalid or contracted in bad faith in order to escape criminal
liability;
2. In “private libel” or the libelous imputation of the commission of the crimes of
concubinage, adultery, seduction, abduction, rape or acts of lasciviousness and in
slander by deed; and
3. In multiple rape, in so far as the other accused in the other acts of rape committed by
them are concerned.

Q: Can the offended party intervene in the criminal action?

A: GR: The offended party has the right to intervene by counsel in the prosecution of the
criminal action where the civil action for the recovery of civil liability is instituted in the
criminal action pursuant to Rule 111 (Sec. 16).

However, if the civil action for damages is filed separately from the criminal action and is
based upon an independent civil action under Articles 32, 33, 34 or 2176 of the Civil
Code, the right to intervene is not lost because the subject of the suit does not arise from
the crime. The civil action to recover civil liability arising from the offense charged is not
the one separately filed (Philippine Rabbit v. People, 427 SCRA 456)

XPN: Where: 1. From the nature of the crime and the law defining or punishing it, no
civil liability arises in favor of the offended party, e.g. sedition, rebellion, treason (crimes
against national security);
2. The offended party waived the right to civil indemnity; or
3. The offended party had already instituted separate action.

Q: What is the effect of desistance made by the offended party in private crimes?
A: It does not bar the People from prosecuting the criminal action, but it operates as a
waiver of the right to pursue civil indemnity.

Note: GR: Since it is the State who is the real offended party in a criminal case, it is the prosecutor or the
Ombudsman as the case may be, or the Solicitor General in cases before the CA or SC, who has the personality
and authority prosecute and file a petition in behalf of the State.
 XPN: An offended party in a criminal case has sufficient personality to file a special civil action for
certiorari, even without the imprimatur of the State. In so doing, the complainant should not bring the action
in the name of the People of the Philippines. The action may be prosecuted in the name of the said
complainant. (Perez v. Hagonoy Rural Bank, Inc., G.R. No. 126210, Mar. 9, 2000)

Q: What is the effect of death by the offended party to the criminal action?
A: Death of the complainant:
1. Will not be sufficient justification for the dismissal of the information, if prior to the
filing of a case in court, a complaint was already filed by the offended party with the
prosecutor (People v. Ilarde, G.R. No. L-57288, Apr. 30, 1984)
2. During the pendency of the case, will not extinguish the criminal liability of the
accused whether total or partial (DonioTeves v. Vamenta, G.R. No. L-38308