COMPLAINT OR INFORMATION

1. As a crime is an offense against the State or the People of the

Philippines, all criminal prosecutions must be filed in the name of the People of
the Philippines. The accused is the person who appears according to the
findings of the fiscal (prosecutor), responsible for the commission of the crime.
(Section 1, Rule 110; City of Manila vs Rizal 27 Phil. 50; U.S. vs Abanzado, 37
Phil. 658; Guino vs Figueroa, 50 O.G. 4828).

2. Criminal actions must be commenced either by Complaint or

Information (Section 1, Rule 110).

a) The Complaint is a sworn statement charging a person with an

offense, subscribed by the offended party, any peace officer or other
employee of the government in charge of the enforcement of the law
violated (Section 2, Rule 110); and

b) An Information is an accusation in writing charging a person with an

offense subscribed by the fiscal and filed with the court (Section 3,
Rule 110). There are felonies which must be prosecuted upon
complaint of the offended party, like adultery, concubinage,
seduction, abduction, acts of lasciviousness and some forms of
defamation.

3. A Complaint or Information is sufficient if it states the name of the

defendant; the designation of the offense by the state; the acts or omissions
complained of as constituting of 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 that one person,
all of them shall be included in the Complaint or Information (Section 5, Rule
110).

4. 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 unknown,
or if his name cannot be discovered he must be described under the fictitious
name with a statement that his true name is unknown. If in the course of the
proceeding the true name of the defendant is 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 (Section 6, Rule 110).

5. If the name of the accused is unknown, he will be charged as “John

Doe” and if there are more than one accused, the other accused shall be
mentioned as “Richard Doe”, etc. Errors in spelling of the name of the accused
must be raised on arraignment. Failing to do so, the accused is estopped from
raising the question later (People vs Narvaes, 59 Phil. 73).

6. It is not necessary to state in the Complaint or Information the precise

time 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 (Section 10, entered of record but a failure to so enter it
shall not affect Rule 106). Usually, the fiscal alleged that the time was committed
“on or about” a certain period. The word “about” is a very comprehensive term
which when used with regards to time, may cover a considerable extent thereof
(People vs Jacobo, CA-G.R. 11606-R, Jan 24, 1955).
 7. A Complaint or Information must charge but one offense, except only
in those cases in which existing laws prescribe a single punishment for various
offense (Section 12, Rule 110). Under Article 48 of the Revised Penal Code, a
single penalty is imposed in cases of complex crimes. Likewise, the Revised
Penal Code fixes a single penalty for cases of Robbery with Homicide or Robbery
with Rape.

8. When falsification is committed to cover up an Estafa (People vs Dizon,

47 Phil. 350), Arson to hide a Homicide (U.S. vs Bersabal, 48 Phil 439) or Murder
to silence the victim of Rape (People vs Matela,. 58 Phil. 718), two (2) separate
information must be filed against the accused.

9. Supporting Affidavits – The complaint shall be accompanied by the

affidavits of the complainant and his witnesses, as well as other supporting
proofs or documents, if any. The affidavit shall be sworn to before a Provincial,
City or State Prosecutor, or other government officials authorized to administer
oaths or in their absence or unavailability, a notary public, who must certify
that he personally examined the affiants and that he is satisfied that they
voluntarily executed and understood their affidavits. (Section 9, Part III- Pros.
Manual).

10. When the preliminary investigation is commenced by referral from or

upon request of the law enforcement agency that investigated the incident, the
affidavits of the complainant and his witnesses to be submitted by the said
agency shall consist of the original or duplicate original or certified machine
copies thereof. (Section 9, Part III- Pros. Manual).

11. Number of Copies of Affidavits – The complaint and supporting

affidavits shall be in such number of copies as there are respondents, plus four
(4) copies in the complaint. (Section 9, Part III- Pros. Manual).

12. Where a complaint charges multiple offenses which cannot be the

subject of one indictment or information, the complainant may be required to
submit such additional copies of the complaint and supporting affidavits as
there are offense charged in the complaint. (Section 10, Part III- Pros. Manual).

13. Barangay Certification – If the offense charged is punishable by

imprisonment not exceeding one (1) year or a fine not exceeding Five Thousand
Pesos P5,000.00) and the parties to the case are all residents of the same city or
municipality, the complaint shall be accompanied by the Certification required
under Section 412 (a) of RA 7160 “ The Local Government Code of 1991”.
(Section 11, Part III-Pros. Manual).

14. Charges and Counter-Charges – All charges and counter-charges

shall, as far as practicable, be consolidated and inquested jointly to avoid
contradictory or inconsistent dispositions. (Section 7, Part II-Pros. Manual).

15. Presence at Crime Scene – Whenever a dead body is found and there
is reason to be believe that the death resulted from foul play, or from the
unlawful acts or omissions of other persons and such fact has been brought to
his attention, the Inquest Officer shall (Section 16, Part II-Pros. Manual):

a) forthwith proceed to the crime scene or place of discovery of the

dead person;

b) cause an immediate autopsy to be conducted by the appropriate

medico-legal officer in the locality or the PNP medico-legal division
or the NBI medico-legal office, as the case may be;
c) direct the police investigator to cause the taking of photographs of
the crime scene or place of discovery of the dead body;

d) supervise the investigation to be conducted by the police authorities

as well as the recovery of all articles and pieces of evidence found
thereat and see to it that the same are safeguarded and the chain of
custody thereof properly recorded; and

e) submit a written report of his finding to the City or Provincial

Prosecutor for appropriate action.