Rule 15

Arraignment and Plea

SECTION 1. Arraignment. —The court shall set the arraignment of the accused within
fifteen (15) days from the time it acquires jurisdiction over the accused, with notice to
the public prosecutor and offended party or concerned government agency that it will
entertain plea-bargaining on the date of the arraignment.

What is arraignment?
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant to
inform the defendant of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected
to enter a plea.

A key innovation adopted by the Rules is empowering the judge to enter a plea of not guilty on behalf of
the accused who was granted bail but did not appear during the arraignment

Section 2. Plea-bargaining. - On the scheduled date of arraignment, the court shall consider
plea-bargaining arrangements. Where the prosecution and offended party or concerned
government agency agree to the plea offered by the accused, the court shall:

(a) Issue an order which contains the plea-bargaining arrived at;

(b) Proceed to receive evidence on the civil aspect of the case, if any; and

(c) Render and promulgate judgment of conviction, including the civil liability for
damages

Plea Bargaining is any agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant whereby the
defendant agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the
prosecutor. This may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to a less serious charge, or to one of the
several charges, in return for the dismissal of other charges; or it may mean that the defendant will
plead guilty to the original criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence.

The purpose in allowing plea bargaining is to avoid the situation wher the initial plea is changed during
the trial itself. However, Rule 116 of the Rules of court provides that after arraignment but before trial
the accused may still be allowed to plead guilty to lesser offense after withdrawing his plea of no guilty.