Section 1. Arraignment and plea; how made. —

(a) The accused must be arraigned before the court where the complaint or information was filed or assigned for trial. The arraignment shall be made in open court by the judge or clerk by furnishing the accused with a copy of the complaint or information, reading the same in the language or dialect known to him, and asking him whether he pleads guilty or not guilty. The prosecution may call at the trial witnesses other than those named in the complaint or information.

(b) The accused must be present at the arraignment and must personally enter his plea. Both arraignment and plea shall be made of record, but failure to do so shall not affect the validity of the proceedings.

(c) When the accused refuses to plead or makes a conditional plea, a plea of not guilty shall be entered for him. 

(d) When the accused pleads guilty but presents exculpatory evidence, his plea shall be deemed withdrawn and a plea of not guilty shall be entered for him.

(e) When the accused is under preventive detention, his case shall be raffled and its records transmitted to the judge to whom the case was raffled within three (3) days from the filing of the information or complaint. The accused shall be arraigned within ten (10) days from the date of the raffle. The pre-trial conference of his case shall be held within ten (10) days after arraignment. 

(f) The private offended party shall be required to appear at the arraignment for purposes of plea bargaining, determination of civil liability, and other matters requiring his presence. In case of failure of the offended party to appear despite due notice, the court may allow the accused to enter a plea of guilty to a lesser offense which is necessarily included in the offense charged with the conformity of the trial prosecutor alone. 

(g) Unless a shorter period is provided by special law or Supreme Court circular, the arraignment shall be held within thirty (30) days from the date the court acquires jurisdiction over the person of the accused. The time of the pendency of a motion to quash or for a bill of particulars or other causes justifying suspension of the arraignment shall be excluded in computing the period (Rule 114, Rules of Court)


What is an arraignment?

● An arraignment is that stage where, in the mode and manner required by the Rules, an accused, for the first time, is granted the opportunity to know the precise charge that confronts him. The accused is formally informed of the charges against him, to which he enters a plea of guilty or not guilty (Ramiscal v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. Nos. 172476-99, September 15, 2010).

● Arraignment is defined as "the formal mode and manner of implementing the constitutional right of an accused to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him" (People v. Palema, G.R. No. 228000, July 10, 2019).


What is the purpose and importance of arraignment?

● Its purpose is to notify the accused of "the reason for his indictment, the specific charges he is bound to face, and the corresponding penalty that could be possibly meted against him." It is not an idle ceremony that can be brushed aside peremptorily, but an indispensable requirement of due process, the absence of which renders the proceedings against the accused void (People v. Palema, G.R. No. 228000, July 10, 2019).

● An arraignment not only satisfies the due process clause of the Constitution, but also affords an accused an opportunity to know the precise charge that confronts him or her. Through arraignment, the accused is placed in a position to enter his or her plea with full knowledge of the consequences. It is a vital aspect of any criminal prosecution, demanded by no less than the Constitution itself (People v. Palema, G.R. No. 228000, July 10, 2019).

● Double jeopardy cannot be invoked where the accused has not been arraigned (Miranda v. Tuliao, G.R. NO. 158763, March 31, 2006). 

● If the accused has not been arraigned, he cannot be tried in absentia  (Sec. 14(2), Art. III, 1987 
Constitution).


Where should the accused be arraigned?

The accused must be arraigned before the court where the complaint or information was filed or assigned for trial (Rule 114, Sec. 1[a], Rules of Court).


How arraignment is made?

● The arraignment shall be made in open court by the judge or clerk by furnishing the accused with a copy of the complaint or information, reading the same in the language or dialect known to him, and asking him whether he pleads guilty or not guilty (Rule 114, Sec. 1[a], Rules of Court).

● Accused must personally appear and enter his plea. Counsel cannot enter plea for the accused. (Rule 114, Sec. 1[b], Rules of Court).


When shall a plea of 'not guilty' be entered?

A plea of not guilty shall be entered when:

1. the accused pleads not guilty;
2. when he refuses to plead;
3. when he makes a conditional plea;
4. when he pleads guilty but presents exculpatory evidence, in which case the guilty plea shall be deemed withdrawn and a plea of not guilty shall be entered for him (Rule 114, Sec. 1 [c] and [d], Rules of Court);
5. where, after a plea of guilt, he introduces evidence of self-defense;
6. when the plea is indefinite or ambiguous (People v. Strong);


● A plea of guilty must be an unconditional admission of guilt. It must be of such nature as to foreclose the defendant's right to defend himself from said charge, thus leaving the court no alternative but to impose the penalty fixed by law. An accused may not foist a conditional plea of guilty on the court in the sense that he admits his guilt provided that a certain penalty will be meted unto him. Likewise, a formal plea of not guilty should properly be entered if an accused admits the truth of some or all the allegations of the information, but interposes excuses or additional facts which, if duly established would exempt or relieve him in whole or in part of criminal responsibility (People v. Bello, G.R. Nos. 130411-14. October 13, 1999).

● A conditional plea of guilty, or one entered subject to the provision that a certain penalty be imposed upon him, is equivalent to a plea of not guilty and would, therefore, require a full-blown trial before judgment may be rendered (People v. Madraga, G.R. No. 129299. November 15, 2000).

● While it is true that accused-appellant requested for a lesser penalty, such does not make his plea of guilty conditional. It remains to be an admission of the facts alleged in the information charging robbery with homicide. At most, said plea for a lesser penalty is an appeal to emotion as it does not assail, restrict or qualify the information. It does not even specify the penalty desired to be imposed. 

That the accused-appellant intended his plea of guilty to be unconditional is further 'bolstered by the fact that he did not adduce any evidence in his favor and merely submitted the case for decision. Although he had an opportunity to do so after the prosecution rested its case, he did not avail of the same. He remained resolute in his decision to own the crime (People v. Comendador, G.R. No. L-38000 September 19, 1980).


Waiver of Reading of the Information

In multiple cases, the court, upon personal examination of the accused, may allow a waiver of the reading of the information upon the full understanding and express consent of the accused and his/her counsel, which consent shall be expressly stated in both the minutes/certificate of arraignment and the order of arraignment. The court shall explain the waiver to the accused in the language or dialect known to him/her, and ensure the accused’s full understanding of the consequences of the waiver before approving the same (Par. III, 8[c], Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases, A.M. No. 15-06-10-SC dated 25 April 2017, effective 1 September 2017).


Is the presence of the private offended party required during arraignment? 

The private offended party shall be required to appear at the arraignment for purposes of plea bargaining, determination of civil liability, and other matters requiring his presence (Rule 114, Sec. 1[f], Rules of Court).


What if the private offended party failed to appear during arraignment?

In case of failure of the offended party to appear despite due notice, the court may allow the accused to enter a plea of guilty to a lesser offense which is necessarily included in the offense charged with the conformity of the trial prosecutor alone (Rule 114, Sec. 1[f], Rules of Court).


When should arraignment be made?

Under the Rules of Court – Unless a shorter period is provided by special law or Supreme Court circular, the arraignment shall be held within thirty (30) days from the date the court acquires jurisdiction over the person of the accused. The time of the pendency of a motion to quash or for a bill of particulars or other causes justifying suspension of the arraignment shall be excluded in computing the period (Rule 114, Sec. 1[g], Rules of Court).

Under the Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial – Once the court has acquired jurisdiction over the person of the accused, the arraignment of the accused and the pre- trial shall be set within ten (10) calendar days from date of the court’s receipt of the case for a detained accused, and within thirty (30) calendar days from the date the court acquires jurisdiction (either by arrest or voluntary surrender) over a non-detained accused, unless a shorter period is provided by special law or Supreme Court circular. 

The court must set the arraignment of the accused in the commitment order, in the case of detained accused, or in the order of approval of bail, in any other case. For this purpose, where the Executive Judge and Pairing Judges act on bail applications in cases assigned to other courts, they shall coordinate with the courts to which the cases are actually assigned for scheduling purposes (Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases, A.M. No. 15-06-10-SC dated 25 April 2017, effective 1 September 2017).

RA 4908 – Where the complainant is about to depart from the Philippines with no definite date of return, the accused should be arraigned without delay.


May arraignment be made after a case has been submitted for decision? 

Appellants belated arraignment did not prejudice him. This procedural defect was cured when his counsel participated in the trial without raising any objection that his client had yet to be arraigned. In fact, his counsel even cross-examined the prosecution witnesses. His counsels active participation in the hearings is a clear indication that he was fully aware of the charges against him; otherwise, his counsel would have objected and informed the court of this blunder. Moreover, no protest was made when appellant was subsequently arraigned (People vs. Pangilinan, G.R. No. 171020, March 14, 2007).


Record of arraignment

Both arraignment and plea shall be made of record, but failure to do so shall not affect the validity of the proceedings (Rule 114, Sec. 1[b], Rules of Court).