Title
2018 Bail Bond Guide Updates
Law
Department Circular No. 013
Decision Date
Apr 25, 2018
The 2018 Bail Bond Guide establishes updated standards and formulas for determining bail amounts based on the nature of offenses, financial circumstances of the accused, and recent legislative changes, ensuring a fair and uniform approach to pretrial liberty.
bail
bail bond
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Legal basis, policy, and constitutional anchor

  • The Circular rests on the constitutional mandate that the right to bail is enshrined in the Constitution.
  • It recognizes that bail as a matter of right may be invoked in proper cases.
  • It directs that prosecutors, as officers of the court, must assist courts in fixing bail using the standards and criteria under Rule 114 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, especially the rule that excessive bail shall not be required.
  • It emphasizes bail as a mechanism reconciling pretrial liberty of the accused and society’s interest in assuring the accused’s presence at trial.
  • It mandates harmonization of bail recommendations with crimes/felonies and their imposable penalties and fines, including updated fine amounts.

Prior guides and reason for updates

  • The Circular identifies Department Circular No. 89 dated August 29, 2000 as the prior 2000 Bail Bond Guide that simplified and codified various Department (Ministry) circulars for uniform bail recommendations.
  • It incorporates the impact of Republic Act No. 10951, which adjusts fines and the value of property and damage on which penalty is based under the Revised Penal Code.
  • It explains that the fine adjustment under R.A. No. 10951 responds to perceived injustice from penalty ranges tied to the value of money decades earlier.
  • It cites the Supreme Court decision Lito Corpuz v. People of the Philippines (G.R. No. 180016, 29 April 2014) to justify updates to archaic rules.
  • It accounts for changes since the prior bail guide, including new acts criminalized and acts decriminalized, and it notes that the death penalty has been abandoned in criminal statutes since the old guide.
  • It references Department Order No. 688 dated October 20, 2017, which constituted a Technical Working Group and Drafting Committee for the 2017 Bail Bond Guide.

Governing bail computation framework

  • The Circular establishes rules of computation for arriving at a uniform rate of bail.
  • It applies the framework to determine bail recommendations in accordance with whether the case involves:
    • Reclusion perpetua / life imprisonment,
    • Imprisonment and/or fine where bail is a matter of right,
    • Fine-only cases, or
    • Violations of special laws.
  • It requires rounding and uses prescribed constants (notably P6,000.00, P2,000.00, P10,000.00, and P3,000.00) in specified circumstances.
  • It reiterates that bail should reflect the penalty/fine and that excessive bail shall not be required in line with Rule 114 standards.

When bail is not recommended

  • If the penalty is reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, bail is not a matter of right.
  • In such cases, no bail shall be recommended.

Bail when bail is a matter of right (imprisonment and/or fine)

  • Where bail is a matter of right and the imposable penalty is imprisonment and/or fine, bail must be computed based on the imprisonment penalty.
  • The Circular requires that a fraction of a year shall be rounded-off to one year.
  • It mandates applying specific computation rules depending on the classification of the imposable penalty:
    • Where the penalty is Prision correccional (regardless of the period) to Reclusion perpetua, or Reclusion temporal (regardless of the period) to Reclusion perpetua, bail is computed on the maximum period of Reclusion temporal.
    • Where the imposable penalty is correccional or afflictive, bail is based on the maximum of the penalty, using: (number of years in its maximum period) × P6,000.00.
  • It imposes special computation rules for specified offenses:
    • For Theft up to P600,000.00, bail uses P2,000.00; any amount exceeding P600,000.00 uses P6,000.00.
    • For Qualified theft up to P600,000.00, bail uses P2,000.00; any amount exceeding P600,000.00 uses P6,000.00.
    • For Estafa under par 2(D) up to P1.2 M, bail uses P2,000.00; any amount exceeding P1.2 M uses P6,000.00.
  • It sets special rules for procedure and special court settings:
    • For crimes covered by the Rule on Summary Procedure and for instances where bail is not required under the guideline in cases that underwent preliminary investigation, bail must be indicated as “bail is not required.”
    • If the respondent/accused is brought to inquest proceedings, bail must be set at P3,000.00.
  • It provides that quasi offenses follow the guideline’s table-based approach because life and limb is more valuable than any damage to property.

Bail for Batas Pambansa Blg. 22 violations

  • For violations of Batas Pambansa Blg. 22, bail is computed on the face value of the check.
  • Bail is P6,000.00 for the first P40,000.00 of face value.
  • An additional P6,000.00 is added for every P40,000.00 in excess of P40,000.00.
  • Bail is capped at P120,000.00.

Bail when the penalty is fine only

  • If the imposable penalty is fine only, bail must be computed using prescribed thresholds:
    • For a fine not exceeding P400,000.00, bail is not required.
    • For a fine of more than P400,000.00, bail is 10% of the fine.
  • The Circular caps fine-based bail at P120,000.00.

Bail for violations of special laws

  • For violations of special laws, bail is computed based on:
    • the maximum penalty imposable, and
    • the number of years in its maximum period × P6,000.00.
  • It provides a higher multiplier for enumerated laws:
    • For the listed laws, bail is computed using maximum penalty imposable × (number of years in its maximum period × P10,000.00).
  • The laws enumerated for the P10,000.00 computation multiplier are:
    • RA 7610 (as amended by RA 9231),
    • RA 9775,
    • RA 10591,
    • RA 9165 as amended by RA 10640,
    • RA 9160 as amended by RA 9194 and RA 10167,
    • RA 9184,
    • RA 9208 as amended by RA 10364,
    • RA 9372,
    • RA 9745,
    • RA 9995,
    • RA 10168,
    • RA 10353,
    • RA 10883 (New Anti Carnapping Act of 2016, repealing RA 6539),
    • PD 1866 as amended by RA 9516,
    • Republic Act No. 6968.

Adoption of bail schedule; implementation effect

  • The Circular adopts an attached schedule of bail for uniform bail recommendations.
  • The schedule is to be used by the National Prosecution Service and is known as the 2018 Bail Bond Guide.
  • The Circular instructs that prosecutors must assist courts in fixing bail consistent with the Rule 114 bail standards and the Circular’s uniform computation rules.
  • The Circular remains enforceable until further orders after its immediate effectivity.

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