April 23, 1900

GENERAL ORDER NO. 58

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 1900

OFFICE OF THE U.S. MILITARY GOVERNOR ON THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 58
In the interests of justice, and to safeguard the civil liberties of the
inhabitants of these Islands, the criminal code of procedure now in force
therein is hereby amended in certain of its important provisions, as indicated
in the following enumerated sections: aCSHDI

SECTION 1. The following provisions shall have the force and effect
of law in criminal matters in the Philippine Islands from and after the 15th
day of May, 1900, but existing laws on the same subjects shall remain valid
except in so far as hereinafter modified or repealed expressly or by
necessary implication.
Prosecution of Offenses
SECTION 2. All prosecutions for public offenses shall be in the name
of the United States against the persons charged with the offences.
SECTION 3. All public offences triable in courts of first instance or in
courts of similar jurisdiction, now established or that hereafter may be
established, must be prosecuted by complaint or information.
SECTION 4. A complaint is a sworn written statement made to a
court or magistrate that a person has been guilty of designated offence.
SECTION 5. An information is an accusation in writing charging a
person with a public offence, presented and signed by the promoter fiscal or
his deputy and filed with the clerk of court.
SECTION 6. A complaint or information is sufficient if it shows:
1. The name of the defendant, or, if his name cannot be
discovered, that he is described under a fictitious name with
a statement that his true name is unknown to the informant
or official signing the same. His true name may be inserted at
any stage of the proceedings instituted against him,
whenever ascertained.
2. The designation of the crime or public offence charged.
3. The acts or omission complained of as constituting the crime
or public offence in ordinary and concise language, without
repetition, not necessarily in the words of the statute, but in
such form as to enable a person of common understanding to
know what is intended and the court to pronounce judgment
according to right.

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 4. That the offence was committed within the jurisdiction of the
court and is triable therein.
5. The names of the persons against whom, or against whose
property, the offence was committed, if known.

SECTION 7. Except when tie is a material ingredient of an offence,

the precise time of commission need not be stated in a complaint or
information, but the act may be alleged to have been committed at any time
before the filing thereof. And when an offence shall have been described
with sufficient certainty to identify the act, an erroneous allegation as to the
person injured shall be deemed immaterial.
SECTION 8. A complaint or information may be substantially in the
following form:
United States against A. B. In the Court of _____________, to
________________ Province of ______________ the ____ day of _____________,
19___ A. B. is accused by the undersigned of the crime of (giving its
legal appellation, such as murder, arson, robbery, or the like, or
designating it as a felony or misdemeanor), committed as follows: That
said A. B. on the ____ day of ________, 19___, at the _______________
Province of ____________ (here set forth the acts or omissions charged
as an offence), contrary to the statute in such case made and provided.

(Signed) _______________________.

SECTION 9. The information or complaint may be amended in

substance or form, without leave of court, at any time before the defendant
pleads; and thereafter, during the trial, as to all matters of form, at the
discretion to the rights of the defendant.
SECTION 10. No information or complaint is insufficient, nor can the
trial, judgment or other proceeding be affected by reason of a defect in
matter of form which does not tend to prejudice a substantial right of the
defendant upon the merits.
SECTION 11. A complaint or information must charge but one
offence; except only in those cases in which existing laws prescribe a single
punishment for various allied offences. EcHaAC

SECTION 12. Every person making complaint charging the

commission of a crime or public offence, must inform the magistrate of all
persons whom he believes to have any knowledge of its commission; and the
magistrate shall issue subpoenas for such persons, requiring them to attend
at a specified time and place as witnesses.
SECTION 13. When a complaint or information alleging the
commission of a crime is laid before a magistrate, he must examine on oath,
the informant or prosecutor and the witnesses produced, and take their
depositions in writing, causing them to be subscribed by the parties making
them. If the magistrate be satisfied from the investigation that the crime
complained of has been committed, and that there is reasonable ground to
believe that the party charged has committed it, he must issue an order for
his arrest. If the offence be admitted to bail; and the defendant offer for his
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 arrest. If the offence be bailable, and the defendant offer a sufficient
security, he shall be admitted to bail; otherwise he shall be committed to
prison.
SECTION 14. If the magistrate shall believe from the evidence
submitted, either that the crime complained of was not committed, or that, if
committed, the person charged did not commit it, he must set the person at
liberty; but such release shall not prevent the filing of a new complaint or
information and the arrest of the accused thereon at any time before the
prosecution of the offence shall be barred by the statute. In case the
promoter fiscal may appeal from the order of release, the judge shall subject
the accused to such inspection and measures of vigilance as may be
deemed prudent to prevent his escape.
Rights of Accused at the Trial
SECTION 15. In all criminal prosecutions the defendant shall be
entitled:
1. To appear and define in person and by counsel at every
stage of the proceedings.
2. To be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.
3. To testify as a witness in his own behalf; but if a defendant
offers himself as a witness he may be cross-examined as any
other witness. His neglect or refusal to be a witness shall not
in any manner prejudice or be used against him.

4. To exempt from testifying against himself.

5. To be confronted at the trial by and cross-examine the
witnesses against him. Where the testimony of a witness for
the prosecution has previously been taken down by question
and answer in the presence of the accused or his counsel, the
defence having had an opportunity to cross-examine the
witness, the deposition of the latter may be read, upon
satisfactory proof to the court that he is dead or insane, or
cannot with due diligence be found in the Islands.
6. To have compulsory process issue for obtaining witnesses in
his own favor.
7. To have a speedy and public trial.

8. To have the right of appeal in all cases.

Arraignment and Counsel
SECTION 16. When a complaint or information shall have been filed
the defendant must be arraigned thereon before the court in which it is filed,
unless the cause shall have been transferred elsewhere for trial. If the
charge is for a felony (delito), the defendant must be personally present at
the arraignment; but if for a misdemeanor (falta), he may appear by counsel.
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 SECTION 17. If the defendant appears without counsel, he must be
informed by the court that it is his right to have counsel before being
arraigned, and must be asked if he desires the aid of counsel. If he desires
and is unable to employ counsel, the court must assign counsel to defend
him. A reasonable time must be allowed for procuring counsel.
SECTION 18. The arraignment must be made by the court or clerk,
and shall consist in reading the complaint or information to the defendant
and delivering to him a copy thereof, including a list of witnesses, and asking
him whether he pleads guilty or not guilty as charged. The prosecution may
call at the trial other witnesses than those named in the complaint or
information.
Demurrers and Pleas
SECTION 19. If, on the arraignment, the defendant requires it, he
must be allowed a reasonable time, not less than one day, to answer the
complaint or information. He may, in his answer to the arraignment, demur
or plead to the complaint or information. SHEIDC

SECTION 20. Both demurrer and plea must be submitted in open

court, either at the arraignment or at such other time as may be allowed to
the defendant for the purpose.
SECTION 21. The defendant may demur to the complaint or
information, when it appears on the face thereof:

1. That the offence charged is not within the jurisdiction of the

court.

2. That it does not conform substantially to the prescribed

form.
3. That more than one offence is charged; except only in those
cases in which existing laws prescribe a single punishment
for various allied offences.

4. That the facts charged do not constitute a public offence.

5. That it contains averments which, if true, would constitute a
legal jurisdiction or excuse.

SECTION 22. In courts of first instance or of like jurisdiction, the

demurrer must be in writing, signed by the defendant or his counsel, and
must distinctly set forth the grounds of objection, or it shall be disregarded.
The formal demurrer shall be accompanied by such arguments in writing as
the defence may desire to submit to sustain it. Within three days after the
filing of a demurrer the promoter fiscal must file his answer thereto in
writing. The judgment of the court, either allowing or disallowing it, must be
in writing and shall be filed with the papers in the case within three days
after the demurrer is heard.
SECTION 23. If the demurrer is sustained, the judgment shall be
final on the complaint or information demurred to, and it shall be a bar to
another prosecution for the same offence, unless the court delivering
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 judgment was without jurisdiction, or unless the court being of opinion that
the objection may be avoided, directs a new complaint or information to be
filed. If the court does not direct that the accused be remanded to a court of
proper jurisdiction for trial or that a new information be filed, the defendant
must be discharged or his bail be exonerated.
SECTION 24. Should the demurrer be disallowed, the court must
require the defendant to plead. If he refuses, a plea of not guilty shall be
entered for him.
There are four kind of pleas to an information or complaint: (1) guilty;
(2) not guilty; (3) a former judgment of conviction or acquittal of the offence
charged which may be pleaded either with or without the plea of not guilty;
(4) once in jeopardy, which may be pleaded with or without the plea of not
guilty. The plea must be oral, and a minute thereof in writing filed with the
papers in the case.
SECTION 25. A plea of guilty can be put in only by the defendant
himself in open court. The court may at any time before judgment upon a
plea of guilty, permit it to be withdrawn and a plea of not guilty substituted.
SECTION 26. When a defendant shall have been convicted or
acquitted or once placed in jeopardy upon an information or complaint, the
conviction, acquittal shall be a bar to another information or indictment for
the offence charged, or for an attempt to commit the same, or for a
frustration thereof, or for any offence necessarily therein included of which
he might have been convicted under such complaint or information.
SECTION 27. If the defendant shall have been formerly acquitted on
the ground of variance between the complaint or information and the proof,
or if the complaint or information shall have been dismissed upon objection
to its form or substance or in order to hold the defendant for a higher
offence without a judgment of acquittal, it shall not be considered an
acquittal of the same offence.
SECTION 28. A person cannot be tried for an offence, nor for any
attempt to commit the same of frustration thereof, for which he has been
previously brought to trial in a court of competent jurisdiction upon a valid
complaint or information or other formal charge sufficient inform and
substance to sustain a conviction, after issue properly joined, when the case
is dismissed or otherwise terminated before judgment without the consent of
the accused. EcDSHT

SECTION 29. The court may find the defendant guilty of any
offence, or of any frustrated or attempted offence, the commission of which
is necessarily included in the charge in the complaint or information.
SECTION 30. After his plea the defendant shall be entitled, on
demand, to at least two days in which to prepare for trial.
The Trial
SECTION 31. The plea of not guilty having been entered, the trial
must proceed in the following order:
1. The counsel for the United States must offer evidence in
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 support of the charges.

2. The defendant or his counsel may offer evidence in support

of the charges.

3. The parties may then respectively offer rebutting testimony,

but rebutting testimony only, unless the court, in furtherance
of justice, permit them to offer new and additional evidence
bearing upon the main issue in question.
4. When the introduction of testimony shall have been
concluded, unless the case is submitted to the court without
argument, the counsel for the United States must open the
argument, the counsel for the defence must follow, and the
counsel for the United States may conclude the same. The
argument by either counsel may be oral or written, or partly
oral and partly written, but only the written arguments, or
such portions of the same as may be in writing shall be
preserved in the records of the case.
SECTION 32. In courts of first instance or similar jurisdiction each
witness must be duly sworn and his testimony reduced to writing as a
deposition by the court or under its direction. The deposition must state the
name, residence, and occupation of the witness. It must contain all questions
put to the witness and his answers thereto. If a question put is objected to
and the objection be either over-ruled or sustained, the fact of objection and
its nature, together with the ground on which it shall have been sustained or
over-ruled must be stated, or if a witness declines to answer a question put,
the fact and the proceedings taken thereon shall be entered in the record.
The deposition must be read to the witness and made to conform to what he
declares to be the truth. He must sign the same, or, if he refuses, his reason
for such refusal must be stated. It must also be signed by the magistrate and
certified by the clerk. In cases where an official stenographer is engaged, the
testimony and proceedings may be taken by him in shorthand, and it will not
be necessary to read the testimony to the witness nor for the latter to sign
the same; but a transcript of the record made by the official stenographer
and certified as correct by him shall be prima facie a correct statement of
such testimony and proceedings.
SECTION 33. When two or more defendants are jointly charged with
a felony, any of the defendants demanding it must be tried separately.
SECTION 34. When two or more persons shall be included in the
same charge, the court, at any time before the defendants have entered
upon their defence or upon the application of the counsel of the
government, may direct any defendant to be discharged that he may be a
witness for the United States.
SECTION 35. When two or more persons shall be included in the
same charge, and the court shall be of opinion in respect to a particular
defendant that there is not sufficient evidence to put him on his defence, it
must order him to be discharged before the evidence is closed, that he may
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 be a witness for his co-defendant.
SECTION 36. The order indicated in sections 34 and 35 shall amount
to an acquittal of the defendant and shall be a bar to future prosecution for
the same offence.
SECTION 37. When it appears at any time before judgment is taken,
that a mistake had been made in charging the proper offence, the defendant
must not be discharged if there appear to be good cause to detain him in
custody, but the court must commit him to answer to the proper offence,
and may also require the witness to give bail for their appearance at the
trial.
SECTION 38. If the promoter fiscal or his deputy fails to be present
at the trial, the court must appoint some attorney at-law to perform the
duties of prosecutor at the trial.
SECTION 39. While a witness shall be under examination, the
magistrate may exclude all witnesses who have not testifies. He may also
cause witnesses to be kept separate and to be prevented from conversing
with one another until all shall have been examined.
SECTION 40. The court must also, upon the request of the
defendant, exclude from the trial every person except the officers of the
court and the attorneys for the prosecution and defence.
SECTION 41. The defendant must be personally present at the time
of pronouncing judgment, if the conviction is for a felony; if for a
misdemeanor, the judgment may be pronounced in his absence. aSDCIE

Re-Opening of the Trial

SECTION 42. At any time before the final entry of a judgment for
conviction, the defendant may move, either in the court in which the trial
was had or an appeal to a higher court, for a re-opening of the case upon the
ground of newly discovered evidence material to his defence. The motion
must be made to the court which pronounced sentence, or to the appellate
court if the case shall have been appealed, and must be made in writing and
be supported by the affidavits of the witnesses by whom such evidence is
expected to be given, or by duly authenticated copies of documents which it
is proposed to introduce in evidence. Within a like period after conviction, a
case may be re-opened on account of errors of law committed at the trial.
The motion must be in writing and must set forth the errors alleged to have
been committed. In courts of higher jurisdiction, the decision of the court on
such motions shall be in writing, and, together with the motion and affidavit,
shall be attached to the papers in the case, and any evidence admitted must
be taken and recorded as upon the original hearing. The new hearing, if
allowed, shall take place in the court of original jurisdiction.
SECTION 43. From all final judgments of the courts of first instance
or courts of similar jurisdiction, and in all cases in which the law now provides
for appeals from said courts, an appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court
as hereinafter prescribed. Appeals shall also lies from the final judgments of
justices of the peace in criminal cases to the courts of the next superior
grade, and the decisions of the latter thereon shall be final and conclusive
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 except in cases involving the validity or constitutionality of a statute,
wherein appeal may be made to the Supreme Court.
SECTION 44. Either party may appeal from a final judgment or from
an order made after judgment affecting the substantial rights of the
appellant or in any case now permitted by law. The United States may also
appeal from a judgment for the defendant rendered on a demurrer to an
information or complaint, and from an order of dismissing a complaint or
information.
SECTION 45. An appeal shall be taken by filing with the clerk of the
court in which the judgment or order was rendered or with such court, a
notice stating the appeal, and by serving a copy there upon the adverse
party or his attorney.
SECTION 46. If personal service of the copy on the notice of appeal
cannot be made, the court may order the publication of the notice in some
newspaper, having general circulation in the vicinity, at least once each
week for a period not exceeding thirty days, and such publication shall be
deemed equivalent thirty days, and such publication shall be deemed
equivalent to personal service.
SECTION 47. An appeal must be taken within fifteen days from the
rendition of the judgment or order appealed from.
SECTION 48. Upon an appeal being taken, the clerk or judge of the
court with whom the notice of appeal shall have been filed, must, within five
days after the filing of the notice, transmit to the clerk of the court to which
the appeal is taken, the complete record in the case together with the notice
of the appeal, but upon appeals from justices' courts a transcript of the
papers and entries in the docket will be forwarded to the court to which the
appeal is taken.
SECTION 49. When several defendants are tried jointly, any one or
more of them may make an appeal; but those who do not join in the appeal
shall not be affected thereby.
Records of Trials
SECTION 50. It shall not be necessary to forward to the Supreme
Court the record, or any part thereof, of any part thereof, of any case in
which there shall have been an acquittal, or in which the sentence imposed
does not exceed confinement in prison for one year, or a fine of 250 pesos,
exclusive if costs, unless case shall have been duly appealed. But such
sentences shall be executed upon the order of the court in which the trial
was had. The record of all cases in which the death penalty, or imprisonment
exceeding one year, or a fine exceeding 250 pesos, exclusive of costs of
trial, shall have been imposed, shall be forwarded to the clerk of the Criminal
Branch of the Supreme Court within twenty days, but not earlier than fifteen
days, after the rendition of the sentence. All cases involving sentence of
death, or of imprisonment exceeding six years, or if fine exceeding 1250
pesos, or in which an appeal shall have been taken, shall be submitted to
the Criminal Branch of the Supreme Court, and shall thereafter take the
same course as in now provided by law. Cases forwarded to the Supreme
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 Court involving sentences less serious than those herein before last
mentioned, and not appealed, shall be referred by the clerk to the Ministerio
Fiscal for consideration, and if the latter return the same concurring in the
sentence imposed, the record shall immediately be returned to the trial court
for execution of sentence. If the Ministerio Fiscal shall not concur in the
sentence, the case shall be submitted to the Criminal Branch of the Supreme
Court, and shall thereafter take the same course as in now provided by law
when that officer shall recommend a sentence in any respect more severe
than that imposed by the trial judge; and for the consideration of the court,
without the necessity of a further defence or hearing, when that officer
recommends a lighter sentence. EcHAaS

Trials in Justices' Courts

Appeals
SECTION 51. Proceedings and actions before a justice's court must
be commenced by complaint under oath setting forth the offence charged
with such particulars as to enable the defendant to understand distinctly the
character of the offence charged and to answer the complaint.
SECTION 52. Every plea before a justice of the peace must be oral
and entered in the minutes.
SECTION 53. In proceedings before justices of the peace it will not
be necessary to furnish the accused with a copy of the complaint unless he
demand the same, nor to reduce the testimony or proceedings to writing.
But each justice shall keep a docket book in which must be entered:

1. The title of the action.

2. The offence charged.
3. The date of arrest.

4. The date of trial with minute of all adjournments.

5. The plea.
6. The names and addresses of all witnesses sworn and
examined.
7. The judgment of the court.

8. An itemized statement of the costs.

9. The filing of a notice of appeal, if the case be appealed.
SECTION 54. All cases appealed from a justice's court shall be tried
in all respect anew in the court to which the same are appealed; but on the
hearing of such appeals it shall not be necessary unless the appeal shall
involve the constitutionality or legality of a statute, that a written record of
the proceedings be kept; but shall be sufficient if the appellate court keeps a
docket of the proceedings in the form prescribed in the next preceding
section.
Evidence and Proof
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 SECTION 55. All persons, without exception, who, having organs of
sense, can perceive, and, perceiving can make known their perceptions to
others, may be witnesses. Therefore, neither parties nor other persons who
have an interest in the event of the trial are excluded; nor are those who
have been convicted of crime nor persons on account of their opinions on
matters of religious belief; although in every case the credibility of the
witness may be drawn in question by the manner in which he testifies, by
the character of his testimony, by evidence affecting his character for truth,
honesty, or integrity or his motives, or by contradictory evidence.
SECTION 56. A witness must answer questions legal and pertinent
to the matters at issue, though his answer may tend to establish a claim
against himself; but he need not give an answer which will have tendency to
subject him to punishment for felony; nor need he give an answer which will
have a direct tendency to degrade his character, unless it to be the very fact
at issue or to a fact from which the fact at issue would be presumed. But a
witness must answer to the fact of his previous conviction for felony.
SECTION 57. A defendant in a criminal action shall be presumed to
be innocent until the contrary is proved, and in case of a reasonable doubt
that his guilt is satisfactorily shown he shall be entitled to an acquittal.
SECTION 58. Except with the consent of both, or except in cases of
crime committed by one against the other, neither husband nor wife shall be
a competent witness for or against in a criminal action or proceeding to
which one or both shall be parties.
SECTION 59. In all criminal prosecutions the evidence admitted
must be relevant to the fact at issue, the burden of proof of guilt shall be
upon the prosecution, and the best evidence must be produced of which the
case is susceptible. But copies of public records and documents, of papers
lost or destroyed, and of writings properly admissible in evidence which are
in the possession of the opposite party and have not been produced upon
written request of the party desiring to offer them, shall be admissible in lieu
of the originals. aSADIC

SECTION 60. When a defendant has been held to answer for a

public offence, he may upon application have witnesses conditionally
examined in his behalf in manner as hereinafter shown, but not otherwise.
The application must be supported by affidavit stating: (1) The name and
residence of the witness and that his testimony is material to the defence of
the action; (2) that the witness is about to leave the province, or is so sick or
infirm as to afford reasonable grounds for apprehending that he will not be
able to attend the trial.
SECTION 61. If the court is satisfied that the examination is
necessary, an order will be made directing that the witness be examined at
a specified time and place, and that a copy of the order be served on the
promoter fiscal within a given time prior to that fixed for the examination.
The examination will be taken before the judge ordering the same, or, if the
order be granted by a court of superior jurisdiction, before an inferior
tribunal to be designated in the order. The examination shall proceed
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 notwithstanding the absence of the promoter fiscal, if it appear that he has
been duly notified of the hearing. The testimony shall be reduced to writing.
SECTION 62. When the judge of a court shall be satisfied, by proof
or oath, that there is reason to believe that a material witness on the part of
the prosecution will not appear and testify when required, he may order the
witness to give bail in such sum as he may deem proper for such
appearance. Upon refusal to give bail, the court must commit him to prison
until he complies or is legally discharged. Where, however, it shall
satisfactorily appear that the witness cannot procure bail as directed by the
order of the court, he may forthwith be conditionally examined. Such
examination must be by question and answer, in the presence of the
defendant, or after due notice to attend the examination has been served on
him, and will be conducted in the same manner as an examination at the
trial. His testimony taken, the witness must thereupon be discharged.
Bail
SECTION 63. All prisoners shall be bailable before conviction, except
those charged with the commission of capital offences when proof of guilt is
evident or the presumption of guilt is strong.
SECTION 64. In case of appeal after judgment, the defendant may
be admitted to bail pending on the appeal: (1) As a matter of right if the
appeal is from an acquittal or from a judgment imposing a fine only; (2) as a
matter of judicial discretion in all other non-capital cases.
SECTION 65. If the offence is bailable, the defendant may be
admitted to bail, before conviction, to answer the complaint or information in
the court in which it is filed or to which it may be transferred for trial; after
appeal, upon application supported by an undertaking of bail that he will
surrender himself in execution of such judgment as the appellate court may
render, or that, in case the cause is remanded for a new trial, he will appear
in the court to which it may be remanded and submit himself to the order
and process thereof.
SECTION 66. When admission to bail is a matter of discretion, the
court must require that reasonable notice of the hearing of the application
for bail be given to the promoter fiscal.
SECTION 67. All personal bail bonds must be executed by a written
undertaking executed by at least two sufficient sureties (with or without the
defendant, as the court in its discretion may demand) and duly
acknowledged, in substantially the following form:
A complaint (or information having been filed on the ____ day of
___________, 19___, in the court of _________, __________, Province of
_____________, charging (name of defendant) with the offence of
(designating it generally), and he having been admitted to bail in the
sum of _____________ pesos. Now, therefore, we, _____________ and
________________ of _____________ jointly and severally, hereby undertake
that the above (naming the defendant), will appear and answer the
charge above mentioned in whatever court it may be tried, and will at
all time hold himself amendable to the orders and process of the court,
and if convicted will appear for judgment, and render himself to the
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 execution thereof; or if he fails to perform any of these conditions, that
he will pay to the United States the sum of _________________ pesos
(inserting the sum to which the defendant shall be admitted to bail.).
cEISAD

(Signed) __________________________

_________________________________

SECTION 68. The necessary qualifications of sureties to a bail bond

shall be as follows:
1. Each of them must be a resident, householder or freeholder
within the Islands.

2. Each must be worth the amount specified in the undertaking

over and above all just debts, obligations and property
exempt from execution; but the court may allow more than
two sureties to justify severally in amounts less than
expressed in the undertaking, if the entire sum justified to is
equivalent to the whole amount of bail demanded.

SECTION 69. The sureties must in all cases justify by affidavit taken
before the magistrate, stating therein that they each possess the
qualifications named in the preceding section.
SECTION 70. The court may further examine the sureties upon oath
concerning their sufficiency, in such manner as it may deem proper.
SECTION 71. The defendant must be discharged by the court upon
acceptance of bail.
SECTION 72. After a defendant shall have been admitted to bail, the
court may, upon good cause shown, either increase or reduce the amount of
the same. If increased, the defendant may be committed to custody unless
he gives bail in the increased amount he is called upon to furnish. A
defendant held to answer on a criminal charge but who is released without
bail on the filing of a complaint charge but who is released without bail on
the filing of a complaint, may, at any subsequent stage of the proceedings
whenever it may satisfactorily appear to the court that he is the author of
the alleged crime, be required to give bail, or in lieu thereof may be
committed to prison. *
SECTION 73. Bail upon appeal must conform in all respects as
provided for in other cases of bail, except that the undertaking must be
conditioned as prescribed in section 65.
SECTION 74. At any time after the amount of bail is fixed by order,
the defendant, instead of giving bail, may deposit with the nearest collector
of internal revenue the sum mentioned in the order, and upon delivering to
the court a proper certificate of the deposit, must be discharged from
custody. Money thus deposited shall be applied to the payment of the fine
and costs for which judgment may be given, and the surplus, if any be
returned to the defendant.
SECTION 75. The sureties to the bail bond may surrender the
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 defendant at any time prior to forfeiture, or he may surrender himself and
the bail be thus exonerated. An order of exoneration may be made by the
court upon proof of surrender and after due notice to the promoter fiscal of
the proposed issuance of the order. For the purpose of surrendering the
defendant the bail may arrest him, or on written authority endorsed on a
certified copy of the undertaking may cause him to be arrested by any police
officer or any other person of suitable age and discretion.
SECTION 76. If without sufficient cause the defendant neglects to
appear for arraignment, trial, or judgment, or neglects to appear on any
other occasion when his presence may be required in court, or fails to
surrender himself in execution of the judgment, the court must direct the
fact of his neglect or failure to be entered in the records of the cause, and
declare the undertaking or deposit, as the case may be, to be forfeited. But if
at any time within thirty days thereafter the defendant or his counsel
appears and satisfactorily explains the neglect or failure, the court may
direct the forfeiture to be discharged upon such terms as it may consider
just. If the forfeiture is not so discharged, the promoter fiscal shall at once
proceed by action against the bail upon their undertaking.
Writ of Habeas Corpus
SECTION 77. Every person unlawfully imprisoned or restrained of
his liberty under any pretence whatever may prosecute a writ of habeas
corpus, in order to inquire into the cause of such imprisonment or restraint.
SECTION 78. Application for the writ is made by petition, signed
either by the party for whose relief it is intended, or by some person in his
behalf, and must specify:

1. Application in whose behalf the writ is applied for is

imprisoned or restrained of his liberty, the place where and
the officer or person by whom he is so confined or restrained,
naming all parties of they are known, or describing them as
fully as possible if they are unknown.
IaEHSD

2. If the imprisonment is alleged to be illegal, in what the

alleged illegibility consists.

3. The petition must be verified by the oath or affirmation of

the party making the application.

SECTION 79. The writ of habeas corpus may be granted by a court

superior to that of justice of the peace, or a judge thereof, within the limits of
the court's jurisdiction.
SECTION 80. Any court or judge authorized to grant the writ and to
whom petition for the same is presented, must, if it appear that the writ
ought to issue, grant the same without delay.
SECTION 81. When the writ is issued by a member of the Supreme
Court, it may be made returnable before himself, or the Supreme Court, or
before any court immediately inferior, or any judge thereof.
SECTION 82. When the writ shall be awarded it shall be in form
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 substantially as follows:
______________} Province of _____________} To (naming the person
having the petitioner in charge): You are hereby commanded to have
the body of _______________ by you unlawfully detained as alleged,
before (the court of _____________ or before me, or before
___________________, judge of _____________, as the case may be), at
______________, on the ____ day of ___________, 19___ (or forthwith after
being served with this writ), to be dealt with according to law; and
have you then and there this writ with a return as prescribed by law.
(Signed) __________________

SECTION 83. The writ may be served by an officer, or by any other

person appointed in writing for that purpose by the court or judge by whom
it is issued or allowed. If served by any person other than an officer, he shall
possess the same power and is liable to the same penalty for non-
performance of duty as though he were an officer.
SECTION 84. Service of the writ shall be made by leaving the
original with the person to whom it is directed and preserving a copy on
which to make return of service. If that person cannot be found or has not
the plaintiff in custody, then the service shall be made on any other person
having or exercising such custody.
SECTION 85. If the person to whom the writ is directed conceals
himself or refuses admittance to the officer or person charged with the
service of the writ, or if he attempts to convey wrongfully the plaintiff or
petitioner out of the province after the writ has been served, the officer or
other person serving the same may arrest him or any other person or
persons resisting his authority, and bring him or them, together with the
petitioner, forthwith before the court or judge before whom the writ is
returnable.
SECTION 86. The person whom the writ is served must make return
thereto in writing stating therein plainly and unequivocally whether he then
has, or at any time has had, the plaintiff under his control and constraint,
and if so, the cause thereof. If he has transferred him he must state to whom
and the time of transfer, also the reason or authority therefore. The return
must be verified. If the plaintiff is detained by virtue of any written authority,
a copy thereof must be annexed to the return and the original produced on
the hearing.
SECTION 87. The person to whom the writ is directed must produce
the body of the person in his custody or under his restraint, according to the
command of the writ, except when it appears by affidavit that on account of
sickness or infirmity he cannot safely be brought, or where the party in
restraint or custody waives the right to be present in writing or by attorney.
SECTION 88. The court or judge before whom the writ is returned
must immediately after return proceed to hear the matter, and shall dispose
of the prisoner as justice may determine. The court or judge shall have full
power and authority to require and compel witnesses to appear and testify
and to perform all other acts necessary to a full and fair hearing of the case.
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 SECTION 89. If no legal cause is shown for the imprisonment or a
continuation of the restraint imposed upon the person, the court or judge
must discharge him from the custody or restraint under which he is held.
SECTION 90. In all cases where the imprisonment is for a criminal
offence or on criminal charge, although the commitment may have been
informally made or without due authority, and although the process may
have been executed or the prisoner be held by a person not duly authorized,
the court or judge, deciding that there is not sufficient cause for discharge,
may make a new commitment or admit to bail if the case is bailable. All
material witnesses may be required to enter into bonds to appear at the
proper time and place, as in other cases. cACEHI

SECTION 91. No writ of habeas corpus can be disobeyed for effect

of form, if it sufficiently appear therefrom in whose custody or under whose
restraint the party imprisoned or restrained is held and the court or judge
before whom he is to be brought.
SECTION 92. No person who has been discharged by order of a
court or judge upon habeas corpus can be again imprisoned, restrained or
remanded to custody for the same cause, except in the following:
1. If he has been discharged from custody based on a criminal
complaint, and is afterwards committed for the same offence
by legal order or process.

2. If, after discharge for defect of proof or for any defect of

process, warrant or commitment in a criminal case, the
prisoner is again arrested on sufficient proof and committed
by legal process for the same offence.

SECTION 93. When a court or judge authorized to grant a writ of

habeas corpus shall have evidence that any person within the court's
jurisdiction is unjustly imprisoned or restrained of his liberty, it shall be the
duty of such court or judge to issue the writ or cause the same to be issued,
though no application be made therefore.
SECTION 94. Any judge, whether acting individually or as a member
of a court, who shall wrongfully and wilfully refuse to issue such writ,
whenever proper application for the same shall have been made, shall forfeit
and pay a sum not exceeding five thousand pesos to the party suffering
from such neglect — the same to be recovered by action in any court of
competent jurisdiction.
Search Warrants
SECTION 95. A search warrant is an order in writing, issued in the
name of the United States, signed by a judge or a justice of the peace, and
directed to a peace officer, commanding him to search for personal property
and bring it before the court.
SECTION 96. It may be issued upon either of the following grounds:
1. When the property was stolen or embezzled.

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 2. When it was used or when the intent exists to use it as the
means of committing a felony.

SECTION 97. A search warrant shall not issue except for probable
cause and upon application supported by oath particularly describing the
place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized.
SECTION 98. The judge or justice must, before issuing the warrant,
examine on oath the complaint and any witnesses he may produce and take
their depositions in writing.
SECTION 99. If the judge or justice is thereupon satisfied of the
existence of facts upon which the application is based, or that there is
probable cause to believe that they exist, he must issue the warrant, which
must be substantially in the following form:
________________} Province of ____________} The United States to any
_________ or policeman in the province of ______________. Proof, by
affidavit, having this day been made before me by (naming the
persons whose affidavits have been taken), that (stating the grounds of
the application or, if the affidavit is not positive, that there is probable
cause for believing), that (stating the ground of the application in the
same manner), you are, therefore, commanded, in the day time (or at
any time in the day or night, as the case may be), to make immediate
search on the person of ________________, or in the house situated
______________________ (describing it or any other place to be searched
with reasonable particularity, as the case may be) for the following
property: (describe it with reasonable certainty); and if you find the
same or any part thereof, to bring it forthwith before me at
_______________________________________. Witness my hand this ______
day of ___________, 19___. AcDaEH

Signed _____________________

SECTION 100. The officer, if refused admittance to the place of

directed search after giving notice of his purpose and authority, may break
open any outer or inner door or window of a house or any part of a house or
anything therein to execute the warrant or to liberate himself or any person
lawfully aiding him when unlawfully detained therein. No search of a vacant
house shall be made except in the presence of at least two competent
witnesses, residents of the neighborhood.
SECTION 101. The warrant must direct that it be served in the day
time, unless the affidavit positively asserts that the property is on the person
or in the place ordered to be searched, in which case a direction may be
inserted that it be served at any time of the day or night.
SECTION 102. The search warrant shall be valid for ten days from
this date. Thereafter it shall be void.
SECTION 103. The officer seizing property under the warrant must
give a detailed receipt for the same to the person on whom or in whose
possession it was found, or in the absence of any person, must, in the
presence of at least two witnesses, leave a receipt in the place in which he
found the seized property.
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 SECTION 104. The officer must forthwith deliver the property to the
court, together with a true inventory thereof duly verified by oath.
SECTION 105. A person charged with a crime may be searched for
dangerous weapons or anything which may be used as proof of the
commission of the crime.
SECTION 106. Any person who shall procure a search warrant
maliciously and without probable cause, and any officer who shall unlawfully
exceed his authority or use unnecessary severity in executing the same shall
be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year or by a fine of not
exceeding 1,000 pesos or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Right of Persons Injured by the Offence
SECTION 107. The privileges now secured by law to the person
claiming to be injured by the commission of an offence to take part in the
prosecution of the offence and to recover damages for the injury sustained
by reason of the same shall not be held to be abridged by the provisions of
this order; but such person may appear and shall be heard either individually
or by attorney at all stages of the case, and the court upon conviction of the
accused may enter judgment against him for the damages occasioned by his
wrongful act. It shall, however, be the duty of the promoter fiscal to direct
the prosecution, subject to the right of the person injured to appeal from any
decision of the court denying him a legal right.
Miscellaneous and Transitory Provisions
SECTION 108. The criminal jurisdiction of justices of the peace is
extended to all offences which the Penal Code designates as punishable by
"arresto mayor" in all of its grades.
SECTION 109. From and after the day upon which this order shall go
into effect, the ordinary civil and military tribunals, each within its proper
limits, shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all crimes and misdemeanors
with which any person or persons living or domiciled within the Philippine
Islands may be charged.
SECTION 110. All criminal actions, in which, prior to the 15th day of
May, 1900, the defence shall not have been entered upon, shall be
commenced anew and thereafter prosecuted as hereinbefore provided; all in
which the defense shall have been entered upon prior to that date shall be
prosecuted to a conclusion from the stage when reached under the late
prevailing rules of procedure, which, however, shall be made to conform as
nearly as may be practicable to the provisions of this order. EaISTD

BY COMMAND OF MAJOR GENERAL OTIS:

M. BARBER
Assistant Adjutant General

<http://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/11/367>
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 last visited on February 4, 2013.

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