BAIL

Its late at night and you are sleeping soundly in your own home, when you hear a knock on your door. You ask yourself, who could be bothering you at this hour? The knocks become persistent and you find yourself pushing to get on your feet and open the door. At the door, you see several individuals, some in uniform and some in civilian clothing. You ask the man in-front of you, wearing a blue uniform with a patch which reads “Philippine National Police”, why they are knocking at your home this late. The man, without hesitation, pulls up a piece of paper and tells you that there is an arrest warrant for you and that you are going to have to go with them peacefully. As you hear those words, your thoughts begin to go into a panic. Why is there a warrant of arrest? What did I do? How is this possible? As the police place the cuffs on your hands, you still find yourself in disbelief. You don’t know what to do and you try to think as you are being processed into jail.

This is just one of the scenarios a person might experience when they are arrested. As scary as being arrested might sound, there is a way to ensure that your freedom may be granted again (temporarily at least). In seeking your innocence, one must fight the accusations being charged against you. But in order to make it easier for you to defend yourself, it is preferable that you are not inside the cold confines of the jail.

You ask yourself, if you were arrested and placed in jail, how do you get out? This is where the RIGHT TO BAIL comes in. Now what is BAIL and how does it help you?

First and foremost, the RIGHT TO BAIL is guaranteed under the 1987 Constitution. Section 13, Article III of the Constitution provides:

“SECTION 13. All persons, except those charged with offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua when evidence of guilt is strong, shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, or be released on recognizance as may be provided by law. The right to bail shall not be impaired even when the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended. Excessive bail shall not be required.” (Emphasis supplied)

However, the RIGHT TO BAIL is not absolute. When a person is charged of a crime where the penalty of said crime is Reclusion Perpetua or Life Imprisonment and the “evidence of guilt is strong”, he is not entitled to bail and shall remain in custody unless he is acquitted by the Court. It should be noted that the exception to the RIGHT TO BAIL is composed of two factors: (1) Crimes with penalties of Reclusion Perpetua or Life Imprisonment; and (2) evidence of guilt is strong. Those two factors must be present to deny the detained accused bail.

Does this mean that when a person is being charged with a crime the penalty of which is Reclusion Perpetua or Life Imprisonment, he is no longer entitled to bail? The answer is NO. Remember; it takes two factors to deny a person bail. The second factor, that the evidence of guilt is strong, falls on the prosecution to prove said factor. Failure by the prosecution to prove that the evidence of guilt is strong, the detained accused in then entitled to bail as a matter of right. This means that even if the detained accused is being charged of a crime the penalty of which is Reclusion Perpetua or Life Imprisonment, he can still file for bail and let the prosecution prove that the evidence of guilt is strong before the Court.

In Maguddatu, et al. v. Court of Appeals (G.R. No. 139599, February 23, 2000), the Honorable Supreme Court defined Bail as “xxx as a security for the release of a person conditioned upon his appearance before any court. The accused shall also appear before the proper court whenever so required by the court or these Rules.” This means that before a person can be released, one must provide a security to the court with a condition that the said person will appear at every scheduled hearing before the Court or whenever the Court requires. This security may be the in form of Cash, Property, or Surety Bond.