BASIC MANIFESTATION

Note: In the case the PAO lawyer is not the original counsel in the case – ALWAYS
CHECK THE INFORMATION, COMPLAINT AND LAST ORDER.

ARRAIGNMENT (Note before arraignment, explain the nature of the case to the
accused)

(Note: “May we request for the second call Your Honor.”)

1. Before proceeding with the arraignment:

a. Ask accused if he/she has any pending motion before the court – Motion
for Reinvestigation, Motion to Quash or Pending appeal of the resolution,
etc.

If there is, MAKE THE PROPER MANIFESTATION;

b. If the accused appears to be a minor, ask for his/her age. If 18 below move
over for the transfer of the case to a Family Court. If the case involves PD
1866 (now amended by RA 10591 – Comprehensive Firearms and
Ammunition Regulation Act), ask if another crime was committed on the
same occasion. If yes, proceed with the arraignment and then file a Motion
to Dismiss on the ground that PD 1866 is deemed absorbed by the other
crime;

c. Ask the accused if he/she is the person charged with the information.

If YES, ask him/her if his/her name is correctly spelled in the information.

If NO – Your Honor, before we proceed with the arraignment, may we

move for the correction of the name of the accused as appearing in
the information.
The true name of the accused is _______________.;

d. Ask the accused what is his/her plea to the information:

Page | 1
 i. If the plea is NOT GUILTY – proceed with the arraignment. “We are
ready for arraignment Your Honor.”;

ii. If the plea is GUILTY and the accused is bonded and the offense is
probationable. “Ready for arraignment Your Honor.”

1. After the accused pleads guilty, follow up with the following

manifestation: “Your Honor, we reserve our right to file the
appropriate pleading (ex. Petition for Probation) within the
reglementary period allowed by the rules. May we further
move that the accused be allowed temporary liberty under
the same bond, Your Honor.”

PRELIMINARY CONFERENCE

“For the defense Your Honor, we will be presenting the accused and __ reserved
witness/es. As for the documentary evidence, may we reserve the submission of
the Judicial Affidavit of the Accused and his reserved witness/es and additional
documentary evidence in the course of the trial.”

Note: In case there is a Warrant of Arrest and accused appears before the Court –
Request that the warrant of arrest be lifted and bond posted by accused be reinstated.

Motion to post bail with motion for the release of the accused.

Always check the last order of the court – WHETHER THE PARTIES ARE NOTIFIED
OR NOT

PRE-TRIAL

“Respectfully appearing for the accused as counsel de officio Your Honor. We

are ready Your Honor.” Or simply, “For the accused, we are ready Your Honor.”

1. To play safe, admit jurisdiction over the subject matter and identity of the
accused only (that the accused and the person named in the case is the same
Page | 2
 person) and deny the remaining stipulations. With regard to documentary
evidence, salaysay or sworn statement, investigation report, Laboratory reports
and medical certificate, etc. (Manifestation: “ADMITTED AS TO EXISTENCE
ONLY YOUR HONOR.”)
2. Usually, after the proposal for stipulations, the prosecution will proceed to pre-
mark its documentary exhibits. Usually, the manifestation of the fiscal or private
counsel are: “May we request for the pre-marking of the (document) as our
exhibit ___ and so forth;
3. Always inspect the exhibits being offered for the pre-marking. If any of the
documents being offered for pre-marking is a mere photocopy of the original,
manifest: “Your Honor, may I put it on record that the document being
presented for pre-marking is only photocopy of the original. Provisional
marking only Your Honor, subject to the presentation of the original.”;
4. Remember, that during the pre-trial, it is still premature to object to the
admissibility of documentary exhibits as they are not yet formally offered but are
only presented for purposes of pre-markings, thus, you can only put on record
the fact of its admissibility. The proper time to object to the admissibility of
documentary evidence is at the time they are formally offered after the
presentation of testimonial evidence and not before such offer;
5. Sometimes, the original together with the photocopy is shown to you for
comparison. The manifestation of the fiscal or private counsel goes like this:
- “I am showing to counsel for the accused the original and photocopy of
exhibit “A” for comparison.”
- Scrutinize the two documents if they are indeed identical then manifest:
“Admitted, the photocopy is the faithful reproduction of the original”.
- If not identical: “Your Honor, after comparing the original with the
photocopy, I noticed that there is/are marked difference/s between the
two documents, for example (point out the difference/s). May we request
that the original itself be marked as exhibit “__”.
6. After the prosecution is through with pre-trial stipulations, the judge will as the
defense of counter offer for stipulations. Owning to the fact the PAO clients do
not usually confer with the assigned PAO lawyer, play safe by manifesting:
- “Your Honor, we have no proposal for the stipulations at this point in
time. We reserve our right to mark our documentary exhibits in the
course of the trial. We intend to present ___ witnesses including the
accused, and ask for the reservation of an additional witness.” (You
Page | 3
 should ask the accused for the number of witnesses prior to the start of the
pre-trial).
Note: If the accused has no other witness aside from himself, you should
nevertheless, ask for the reservation of an additional witness – “Your Honor,
aside from the accused, we reserve our right to present an additional
witness”.
- If the judge insists for the name of your witness, proceed to name him if his
identity is given to you by the accused.
- If not: “Your Honor, for security reasons, may we request that we divulge
the name of the witness at the proper time.”
7. In BP 22 cases, the stipulations that you may admit are:
a. Identity;
b. Jurisdiction; and
c. The incidents of the check:
i. Issuance;
ii. Date;
iii. Amount; and
iv. Signature.
The reason of the admission of the latter is to dispense with the testimony of the
bank representative in order to expedite the proceedings, as it is very hard to
secure the attendance of the bank representative.
8. Before proceeding with the stipulations on the incidents of the check, you must
ask the accused if indeed he/she issued the check/s.
- If affirmative, proceed to stipulate. However, if he/she invokes forgery or that
the check/s were lost or stolen from him/her, then you deny stipulations of the
incidents.

Rule of thumb: Admit only the existence of the demand letter but always
deny admission of its personal receipt by the accused.

PROVISIONAL DISMISSAL (Rule 117, sec 8)

Page | 4