Rule 110

PROSECUTION OF OFFENSES

• Section 1. Commencement of criminal action. — All criminal actions must be commenced either
by complaint or information in the name of the People of the Philippines against all persons who
appear to be responsible therefor.
• Sec. 2. Complaint. - Complaint is a sworn written statement charging a person with an offense,
subscribed by the offended party, any peace officer or other employee of the government or
governmental institution in charge of the enforcement or execution of the law violated.
• Sec. 3. Information. - An information is an accusation in writing charging a person with an offense
subscribed by the fiscal and filed with the court.
• Sec. 4. Who must prosecute criminal actions. —All criminal actions either commenced by
complaint or by information shall be prosecuted under the direction and control of the fiscal.The
crimes of adultery and concubinage shall not be prosecuted except upon a complaint filed by the
offended spouse. The offended party cannot institute criminal prosecution without including
both the guilty parties, if they are both alive, nor, in any case, if he shall have consented or
pardoned the offenders.The offenses of seduction, abduction, rape or acts of lasciviousness, shall
not be prosecuted except upon a complaint filed by the offended party or her parents,
grandparents, or guardian, nor, in any case, if the offender hag been expressly pardoned by the
above-named persons, as the case may be.The offended party, even if she were a minor, has the
right to institute the prosecution for the above offenses, independently of her parents,
grandparents or guardian, unless she is incompetent or incapable of doing so upon grounds other
than her minority. Where the offended party who is a minor fails to file the complaint, her
parents, grandparents or guardians, may file the same. The right to file the action granted to the
parents, grandparents or guardians shall be exclusive of all other persons and shall be exercised
successively in the order herein provided.No criminal action for defamation which consists in the
imputation of an offense mentioned above, shall be brought except at the instance of and upon
complaint filed by the offended party.
• Sec. 5. Sufficiency of complaint or information. — A complaint or information is sufficient if it
states the name of the defendant; the designation of the offense by the statute; the acts or
omissions complained of as constituting the offense; the name of the offended party; the
approximate time of the commission of the offense, and the place wherein the offense was
committed.When an offense is committed by more than one person, flu of them shall be included
in the complaint or information.
• Sec. 6. Name of the defendant.— A complaint or information must state the name and surname
of the defendant or any appellation or nickname by which he has been or is known, or if his name
cannot be discovered he must be described under a fictitious name with a statement that his true
name is unknown.If in the course of the proceeding the true name of the defendant disclosed by
him, or appears in some other manner to the court, the court shall cause the true name of the
defendant to be inserted in the complaint or information and record.
• Sec. 7. Designation of the offense.— Whenever possible a complaint or information should state
the designation given to the offense by the statute, besides the statement of the acts or omissions
constituting the same, and if there is no such designation, reference should be made to the section
or subsection of the statute punishing it.
• Sec. 8. Cause of accusation.—The acts or omissions complained of as constituting the offense
must be stated in ordinary and concise language without repetition, not necessarily in the terms
of the statute defining the offense, but in such form as is sufficient to enable a person of common
understanding to know what offense is intended to be charged, and enable the court to
pronounce proper judgment.
• Sec. 9. Place of the commission of the offense. — The complaint or information is sufficient if it
can be understood therefrom that the offense was committed or some of the essential
ingredients thereof occurred at some place within the jurisdiction of the court, unless the
 particular place wherein it was committed constitutes an essential element of the offense or is
necessary for identifying the offense charged.
• Sec. 10. Time of the commission of the offense. —It is not necessary to state in the complaint or
information the precise time at which the offense was committed except when time is a material
ingredient of the offense, but the act may be alleged to have been committed at any time as near
to the actual date at which the offense was committed as the information or complaint will permit.
• Sec. 11. Name of the offended party.— A complaint or information must state the name and
surname of the person against whom or against whose property the offense was committed, or
any appellation or nickname by which such person has been or is known, and if there is no better
way of identifying him, he must be described under a fictitious name.(a) In case of offenses
against property, if the of the offended party is unknown, the property, subject matter of the
offense, must be described with such particularity as to properly identify the particular offense
charged.(b) If in the course of the trial the true name of the person against whom or against whose
property the offense was committed is disclosed or ascertained, the court must cause the true
name to be inserted in the complaint or information, or record.(c) If the offended party is a
corporation or any other juridical person, it is sufficient to state the name of such corporation or
juridical person, or any name or designation by which it has been or is known, or by which it may
be identified, without necessity of averring that it is a corporation, or that it is organized in
accordance with law.
• Sec. 12. Duplicity of offense.— A complaint or information must charge but one offense, except
only in those cases in which existing laws prescribe a single punishment for various offenses.
• Sec. 13. Amendment— The information or complaint may be amended, in substance or form,
without leave of court, at any time before the defendant pleads; and thereafter and during the
trial as to all matters of form, by leave and at the discretion of the court, when the same can be
done without prejudice to the rights of the defendant.If it appears at any time before judgment'
that a mistake has been made in charging the proper offense, the court may dismiss the original
complaint or information and order the filing of a new one charging the proper offense, provided
the defendant would not be Placed thereby in double jeopardy, and may also require the
witnesses to give bail for their appearance at the trial.
• Sec. 14. Place where action is to be instituted. —(a) In all criminal prosecutions the action shall be
instituted tried in the court of the municipality or province wherein the offense was committed
or any one of the essential ingredients thereof took place.(b) Where an offense is committed on
a railroad train in an aircraft, or in any other public or private vehicle while in the course of its trip,
the criminal action may be instituted and tried in the court of any municipality or province through
which such train, aircraft or other vehicle passed during such trip.(c) Where an offense is
committed on board a vessel registered or licensed in accordance with the laws of the Philippines,
in the course of its voyage, the criminal action may be instituted and tried in the proper court of
the first port of entry or of any municipality or province through which the vessel passed during
such voyage.(d) Other crimes committed outside of the Philippines but punishable therein under
Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code shall be cognizable by the first Court of First Instance in which
the charge is filed.
• Sec. 15. Intervention of the offended party in criminal action.— Unless the offended party has
waived the civil action or expressly reserved the right to institute it separately from the criminal
action, and subject to the provisions of section 4 hereof, he may intervene, personally or by
attorney, in the prosecution of the offense.