Scope of COURT OF APPEALS, SANDIGANBAYAN, COURT The Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases (Revised

Continuou OF TAX APPEALS, REGIONAL TRIAL COURTS, Guidelines) shall apply to all newly-filed criminal cases, including those
s Trial
System
METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURTS, MUNICIPAL governed by Special Laws and Rules, in the First and Second Level Courts,
TRIAL COURTS, MUNICIPAL CIRCUIT TRIAL the Sandiganbayan and the Court of Tax Appeals as of effectivity date. The
COURTS, SHARI'A DISTRICT COURTS AND Revised Guidelines shall also apply to pending criminal cases with respect to
SHARI'A CIRCUIT COURTS, ALL MEMBERS OF the remainder of the proceedings.
THE GOVERNMENT PROSECUTION SERVICE,
AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE INTEGRATED BAR Unless otherwise specifically provided herein,
OF THE PHILIPPINES. the Revised Guidelines shall not apply to criminal cases filed under the Rule
on Summary Procedure.
Only court designated the branches of trial courts that
participate in the pilot project for mandatory continuous
trial.
Pre-trial A. Civil Cases (a) Schedule of Arraignment and Pre-trial. - Once the court has acquired
jurisdiction over the person of the accused, the arraignment of the
1. The parties shall submit at least three (3) days accused and the pretrial shall be set within ten (10) calendar days from
before the conference pre-trial briefs containing the date of the court's receipt of the case for a detained accused, and within
following: thirty (30) calendar days from the date the court acquires jurisdiction
(either by arrest or voluntary surrender) over a non-detained accused,
a. Brief statement of the parties' respective claims unless a shorter period is provided by special law or Supreme Court
and defenses; circular. The court must set the arraignment of the accused in the
commitment order, in the case of detained accused, or in the order of
b. The number of witnesses to be presented; approval of bail, in any other case. For this purpose, where the Executive
Judge and Pairing Judges act on bail applications in cases assigned to
c. An abstract of the testimonies of witnesses to be other courts, they shall coordinate with the courts to which the cases are
presented by the parties, and the approximate number of actually assigned for scheduling purposes.
hours that will be required by them for the presentation (b) Notice of Arraignment and Pre-Trial. - Notice of arraignment and pre-
of their respective evidence; trial shall be sent to the accused, his/her counsel, private complainant or
complaining law enforcement agent, public
d. Copies of all documents intended to be prosecutor, and witnesses whose names appear in
presented; the information for purposes of plea-bargaining,
arraignment and pre-trial.
e. Admissions; (c) Waiver of Reading of the Information. - In multiple
cases, the court, upon personal examination of the
f. Applicable laws and jurisprudence; accused, may allow a waiver of the reading of the
information upon the full understanding and express
g. The parties' respective statement of the issues; consent of the accused and his/her counsel, which
and consent shall be expressly stated in both the
minutes/ certificate of arraignment and the order of
h. The available trial dates of counsel for complete arraignment. The court shall explain the waiver to
evidence presentation, which must be within a period of the accused in the language or dialect known to
three months from the first day of trial. him/her, and ensure the accused's full
understanding of the consequences of the waiver
2. At the pre-trial conference: before approving the same.

a. The judge with all tact and patience shall

endeavor to persuade the parties to arrive at a settlement
of the dispute, or agree to stipulation of facts including
the authenticity of documents to be submitted during the
trial.

b. The judge shall then define the factual issues

arising from the pleadings and endeavor to narrow them
down to material issues.

c. If only legal issues are presented, the judge shall

require the parties to submit their respective memoranda
on the issues, and shall render judgment thereon.

d. If a trial is to be conducted, the judge shall fix

the necessary trial dates to complete presentation of
evidence by both parties within 90 days from initial
hearing.
3. The pre-trial order shall include the following:

a. A statement of the nature of the case;

b. The stipulations or admissions of the parties

including testimonial and documentary evidence;

c. The issues involved: (1) factual and (2) legal;

d. Number of witnesses;

e. The dates of trial.

4. This is without prejudice to a finding that either

judgment on the pleadings or summary judgment is
appropriate.

5. Failure to file pre-trial briefs may be given the

same effect as the failure to appear at the pre-trial.

B. Criminal Cases

1. The private offended party shall be required to

appear at the arraignment for purposes of plea-
bargaining, determination of civil liability or other
matters requiring his presence.

2. Where the accused and counsel agree to a pre-

trial, the pre-trial shall proceed in accordance with Rule
118.

3. If the accused does not agree to a pre-trial, the

Court shall fix the trial dates for the presentation of
evidence by the parties. The trial fiscal, the accused, and
counsel shall affix their signatures in the minutes to
signify their availability on the scheduled dates set for
reception of evidence.

(d) Arraignment Proper

i. Plea Bargaining Except in Drug Cases. - If
the accused desires to enter a plea of guilty
to a lesser offense, plea bargaining shall
immediately proceed, provided the private
offended party in private crimes, or the
arresting officer in victimless crimes, is
present to give his/her consent with the
conformity of the public prosecutor to the
plea bargaining. Thereafter, judgment shall
be immediately rendered in the same
proceedings. (See Annexes 2 and 3)
ii. Plea of Guilty to the Crin1e Charged in the
Infonnation. - If the accused pleads guilty
to the crime charged in the information,
judgment shall be immediately rendered,
except in those cases involving capital
punishment. ni. Where No Plea Bargaining or Plea of
Guilty Takes Place. - If the accused does not
enter a plea of guilty, whether to a lesser
offense or to the offense charged in the
information, the court shall immediately
proceed with the arraignment and the pretrial,
in accordance with the succeeding
provisions on pre-trial.
The schedule of the trial dates, for both
the prosecution and the accused, shall be
continuous and within the periods
provided in the Regular Rules/ Special
Rules. The trial dates may be shortened
depending on the number of witnesses to
be presented. In this regard, a flowchart
shall be prepared by the court which shall
serve as the final schedule of hearings.
(e) Arraign1nent and Prelinzinary Conference of Mediatable Cases subject to
the Rule on Sumniary Procedure The arraigr1ment and preliminary
conference shall be simultaneously held, and the court shall take up all the
1natters required under Sec. 14, Rule on Summary Procedure during the
preliminary conference. i. If the accused pleads guilty to the crime charged in
the information, subheading III, item no. 8, subparagraph ( d) ii (Plea of
Guilty to the Crime Charged 1n the
Information) shall be followed.
ii. If the accused pleads guilty to a lesser
offense, subheading III, item no. 8,
subparagraph ( d) 1 (Plea Bargaining
except in Drug Cases) shall be followed.
ni. If the accused does not enter a plea
of guilty, whether to a lesser offense or to
the offense charged in the information, the
court shall immediately proceed with the
arraignment and the preliminary
conference, and thereafter refer the case to
mediation
(f) Conduct of Pre-trial
i. Absence of parties. - The court shall
proceed with the pre-trial despite the
absence of the accused and/ or private
 complainant, provided they were duly
notified of the same, and the counsel for
the accused, as well as the public
prosecutor, are present.
ii. Stipulations. - Proposals for stipulations
shall be done with the active participation
of the court itself and shall not be left alone to the counsels. iii. Marking of
evidence. - The docu1nentary evidence of the prosecution and the accused
shall be inarked. iv. Pre-trial Order. - The Pre-trial Order shall i1nmediately
be served upon the parties and counsel on the sa1ne day after the termination
of the pre-trial. v. C01npliance with Rules. - Courts inust strictly comply with
the Guidelines to be Observed in the Conduct of Pre-Trial under A.M. No.
03-1-09-SC.
Trial 1. Not more than three (3) cases shall be scheduled for daily trial. (a) The court shall encourage the accused and the prosecution to avail of: i.
2. The Presiding Judge shall make arrangements with the For the accused - Secs. 12 and 13, Rule 119 on the application for
prosecutor and the CLAO attorney so that a relief prosecutor and examination of witness for accused before trial and how it is made; and ii.
CLAO attorney are always available in case the regular prosecutor For the prosecution - Sec. 15, Rule 119 on the conditional examination of
and CLAO attorney are absent.
witness for the prosecution. (b) Absence of counsel de parte. - In the absence
3. Likewise, contingency measures must be taken for any of the counsel de parte, the hearing shall proceed upon appointment by the
unexpected absence of the stenographer and other support staff
assisting in the trial.
court of a counsel de officio.
(c) Offer of evidence. - The offer of evidence, the comment/ objection
4. The issuance and service of subpoenas shall be done in thereto, and the court ruling thereto shall be made orally. A party is required
accordance with Administrative Circular No. 4 dated September 22,
1988. to make his/ her oral offer of evidence on the same day after the presentation
of his/her last witness, and the opposing party is required to immediately
5. A strict policy on postponements shall be observed.
interpose his/her oral comment/ objection thereto. Thereafter, the court shall
6. The judge shall conduct the trial with utmost dispatch, with make a ruling on the offer of evidence in open court. In making the offer, the
judicious exercise of the court's power to control the trial to avoid counsel shall cite the specific page numbers of the court record where
delay.
the exhibits being offered are found, if attached thereto. The court shall
ensure that all exhibits offered are submitted to it on the same day of the
7. The trial shall be terminated within ninety (90) days from initial
offer. If the exhibits are not attached to the record, the party making the offer
hearing. Appropriate disciplinary sanctions may be imposed on the must submit the same during the offer of evidence in open court.
judge and the lawyers for failure to comply with this requirement due (d) Demurrer to Evidence. - After the prosecution has rested its case, the
to causes attributable to them.
court shall inquire from the accused if he/ she desires to move for leave of
court to file a demurrer to evidence, or to proceed with the presentation of
his/her evidence. If the accused orally moves for leave of court to file a
demurrer to evidence, the court shall
8. Each party is bound to complete the presentation of his evidence orally resolve the sa1ne. If the motion for leave is denied, the court shall
within the trial dates assigned to him. After the lapse of said dates,
the party is deemed to have completed his evidence presentation. issue an order for the accused to present and terminate his/her evidence on
However, upon verified motion based on serious reasons, the judge the dates previously scheduled and agreed upon, and to orally offer and rest
may allow a party additional trial dates in the afternoon; provided his/her case on the day his/her last witness is presented. If despite the denial
that said extension will not go beyond the three-month limit
computed from the first trial date. of the motion for leave, the accused insists on filing the demurrer to evidence,
9. Copies of all judgments rendered by the designated courts shall the previously scheduled dates for the accused to present evidence shall be
be furnished the Officer of the Court Administrator within five (5) cancelled. The demurrer to evidence shall be filed within a non-extendible
days from rendition.
period of ten (10) calendar days from the date leave of court is granted, and
the corresponding comment shall be filed within a non-extendible period of
ten (10) calendar days counted from date of receipt of the demurrer to
evidence. The de1nurrer shall be resolved by the court within a non-
extendible period of thirty (30) calendar days fron1 date of the filing of the
comment or lapse of the ten (10)-day period to file the same. If the motion for
leave of court to file demurrer to evidence is granted, and the subsequent
demurrer to evidence is denied, the accused shall likewise present and
terminate his/her evidence (one day apart, morning and afternoon) and shall
orally offer and rest his/her case on the day his/her last witness is presented.
The court shall rule on the oral off er of evidence of the accused and the
comment or objection of the prosecution on the same day of the offer. If the
court denies the motion to present rebuttal evidence because it is no longer
necessary, it shall consider the case submitted for decision.
(e) Presentation of Rebuttal and Sur-rebuttal Evidence. - If the court grants
the motion to present rebuttal evidence, the prosecution shall immediately
proceed with its presentation after the accused had rested his/her case, and
orally rest its case in rebuttal after the presentation of its last rebuttal witness.
Thereafter, the accused shall immediately present sur-rebuttal evidence, if
there is any, and orally rest the case in sur-rebuttal after the presentation of its
last sur-rebuttal witness. Thereafter, the court shall submit the case for
decision. (See Annexes 11 to 13). (f) One-day examination of witness rule. -
The court shall strictly adhere to the rule that a witness has to be fully
examined in one (1) day