Rule 114

• Bail


  The security given for the release of a person in custody of the law, furnished by him or a bondsman, to guarantee his appearance before any court as required under the conditions hereinafter specified
• Forms of bail


  • Corporate surety
  • Property bond
  • Cash deposit
  • Recognizance
• Conditions of bail


  • The undertaking shall be effective upon approval, and unless cancelled, shall remain in force at all stages of the case until promulgation of the judgment of the Regional Trial Court
  • The accused shall appear before the proper court whenever required by the court of these Rules
  • The failure of the accused to appear at the trial without justification and despite due notice shall be deemed a waiver of his right to be present thereat. In such case, the trial may proceed in absentia
  • The bondsman shall surrender the accused to the court for execution of the final judgment
• No person under detention by legal process shall be released or transferred except upon order of the court or when he is admitted to bail
• Bail as a matter of right


  All persons in custody shall be admitted to bail as a matter of right, with sufficient sureties, or released on recognize as prescribed by law or this Rule (a) before or after conviction by the Metropolitan Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court in Cities, or Municipal Circuit Trial Court, and (b) before conviction by the Regional Trial Court of an offense not punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment
• Bail when discretionary


  Upon conviction by the Regional Trial Court of an offense not punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment, admission to bail is discretionary
• If the penalty imposed by the trial court is imprisonment exceeding six (6) years, the accused shall be denied bail, or his bail shall be cancelled upon a showing by the prosecution, with notice to the accused, of certain circumstances
• Capital offense


  An offense which, under the law existing at the time of its commission and of the application for admission to bail, may be punished with death
• No person charged with a capital offense, or an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, shall be admitted to bail when evidence of guilt is strong, regardless of the stage of the criminal prosecution
• Burden of proof in bail application


  At the hearing of an application for bail filed by a person who is in custody for the commission of an offense punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment, the prosecution has the burden of showing that evidence of guilt is strong
• Factors considered in setting bail amount

  • Financial ability of the accused to give bail
  • Nature and circumstances of the offense
  • Penalty for the offense charged
  • Character and reputation of the accused
  • Age and health of the accused
  • Weight of the evidence against the accused
  • Probability of the accused appearing at the trial
  • Forfeiture of other bail
  • The fact that accused was a fugitive from justice when arrested
  • Pendency of other cases where the accused is on bail
• Property bond


  An undertaking constituted as lien on the real property given as security for the amount of the bail
• Qualifications of sureties in property bond

  • Each must be a resident owner of real estate within the Philippines
  • Where there is only one surety, his real estate must be worth at least the amount of the undertaking
  • If there are two or more sureties, each may justify in an amount less than that expressed in the undertaking but the aggregate of the justified sums must be equivalent to the whole amount of bail demanded
• Deposit of cash as bail

  The accused or any person acting in his behalf may deposit in cash with the nearest collector or internal revenue or provincial, city, or municipal treasurer the amount of bail fixed by the court, or recommended by the prosecutor who investigated or filed the case
• Recognizance


  The court may release a person in custody to his own recognizance or that of a responsible person
• No bail shall be required when the law or these Rules so provide
• When a person has been in custody for a period equal to or more than the possible maximum imprisonment prescribe for the offense charged, he shall be released immediately, without prejudice to the continuation of the trial or the proceedings on appeal
• A person in custody for a period equal to or more than the minimum of the principal penalty prescribed for the offense charged, without application of the Indeterminate Sentence Law or any modifying circumstance, shall be released on a reduced bail or on his own recognizance, at the discretion of the court
• Where bail may be filed

  • The court where the case is pending, or in the absence or unavailability of the judge thereof, with any regional trial judge, metropolitan trial judge, municipal trial judge, or municipal circuit trial judge in the province, city, or municipality
  • If the accused is arrested in a province, city, or municipality other than where the case is pending, bail may also be filed with any regional trial court of said place, or if no judge thereof is available, with any metropolitan trial judge, municipal trial judge, or municipal circuit trial judge therein
  • Where the grant of bail is a matter of discretion, or the accused seeks to be released on recognizance, the application may only be filed in the court where the case is pending, whether on preliminary investigation, trial, or on appeal
  • Any person in custody who is not yet charged in court may apply for bail with any court in the province, city, or municipality where he is held
• The court must give reasonable notice of the hearing to the prosecutor or require him to submit his recommendation in the application for bail under section 8
• Whenever bail is filed with a court other than where the case is pending, the judge who accepted the bail shall forward it, together with the order of release and other supporting papers, to the court where the case is pending, which may, for good reason, require a different one to be filed
• After the accused is admitted to bail, the court may, upon good cause, either increase or reduce its amount
• Forfeiture of bond


  1. When the presence of the accused is required by the court or these Rules, his bondsmen shall be notified to produce him before the court on a given date and time

  2. If the accused fails to appear in person as required, his bail shall be declared forfeited and the bondsmen given thirty (30) days within which to produce their principal and to show cause why no judgment should be rendered against them for the amount of their bail

  3. Within the said period, the bondsmen must: (a) produce the body of their principal or give the reason for his non-production; and (b) explain why the accused did not appear before the court when first required to do so

  4. Failing in these two requisites, a judgment shall be rendered against the bondsmen, jointly and severally, for the amount of the bail
• Cancellation of bail


  1. Upon application of the bondsmen, with due notice to the prosecutor, the bail may be cancelled upon surrender of the accused or proof of his death

  2. The bail shall be deemed automatically cancelled upon acquittal of the accused, dismissal of the case, or execution of the judgment of conviction
• An accused released on bail may be re-arrested without the necessity of a warrant if he attempts to depart from the Philippines without permission of the court where the case is pending
• No bail shall be allowed after the judgment of conviction has become final
• The court shall exercise supervision over all persons in custody for the purpose of eliminating unnecessary detention
• An application for or admission to bail shall not bar the accused from challenging the validity of his arrest or the legality of the warrant issued therefor, or from assailing the regularity or questioning the absence of a preliminary investigation of the charge against him, provided that he raises them before entering his plea
• Recidivist


  One who, at the time of his trial for crime, shall have been previously convicted by final judgment of another crime embraced in the same title of the Revised Penal Code
• If the person has previously served sentence for a crime not embraced in the same title of the Revised Penal Code, it is a crime aggravated by the circumstance of reiteration
• Habitual delinquent


  A person who, within a period of ten years from the date of his release or last conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical injuries, robbery, theft, estafa or falsification, is found guilty of any of said crimes a third or oftener
• Quasi-recidivist


  Any person who shall commit a felony after having been convicted by final judgment for another crime before beginning the service of such sentence or while serving the same
• Escape from prison


  1. By means of walls, roofs, or floors

  2. Using picklocks, false keys

  3. Violence or intimidation

  4. Connivance with other convicts or employees of the penal institution
• The penalty for escaping from prison is prision correccional in its maximum period
• Probation is defined as a disposition under which a defendant, after conviction and sentence, is released subject to conditions imposed by the court and to the supervision of a probation officer
• The offender must not have been sentenced to serve a maximum term of imprisonment of more than six (6) years to be eligible for probation
• The law expressly requires that an accused must not have appealed his conviction before he can avail of probation
• Parole


  The conditional release of an offender from a correctional institution after he has served the minimum of his prison sentence
• Conditional pardon


  The exemption of an individual, within certain limits or conditions, from the punishment which the law inflicts for the offense he had committed resulting in the partial extinction of his criminal liability
• The circumstances of accused's case indicate the probability of flight if released on bail