How long do you have to wait before a preliminary investigation is conducted?

I filed a BP 22 case against someone about a month and a few days ago, however, up to this point, I haven't received any notice from the prosecutor or mtc yet. How long does it take for a fiscal to initiate a preliminary investigation? I read in rules of criminal procedure that a preliminary investigation is going to be conducted 10 days after filing the case, however this isn't what happened to my case. Does this mean that there will no longer be a preliminary investigation?


If in case he decided not to do a prelim, then how long does it usually take before the information can be filed at the court for cases like this?

follow up with the prosecutor's office. you are correct in quoting the rule, but so rarely is it followed more because of operational issues. but normally within a month you should have received a subpoena.

attyLLL wrote:follow up with the prosecutor's office. you are correct in quoting the rule, but so rarely is it followed more because of operational issues. but normally within a month you should have received a subpoena.

Thanks for giving me this tip. I just got the good news this morning. We are going for a prosecutor's preliminary investigation hearing in less than a week. I have another question regarding Watch list and hold departure orders.

Is it a good strategy to file a watch list order now while there is an ongoing preliminary investigation, or wait for the prelim investigation to finish so that I can apply for an HDO which valid for a lot longer than WLO?

I filed the case about a month ago and now I just found out that we are scheduled for the prelim investigation hearing. If this is the case, do you think it would take more than 120 days before the fiscal can resolve the case?

If I apply for a WLO now, is there a way to make sure that the respondent will not be able to leave the country? Given that when a resolution is issued, the WLO would be cancelled and I have to file an HDO when the case is pending trial. So this means that the accused has ample amount of time to leave the country before I can even secure an HDO for him. What is a good strategy for this?

a bp 22 case is filed in mtc, not rtc. mtc has no power to issue hdo.

a wlo is the only thing you can request. since you only have 4 months, it will depend on the situation if you can monitor the movements of the respondent.

attyLLL wrote:a bp 22 case is filed in mtc, not rtc. mtc has no power to issue hdo.

a wlo is the only thing you can request. since you only have 4 months, it will depend on the situation if you can monitor the movements of the respondent.

This also confuses me. According to this document, it is the DOJ who issues HDO and WLO.

http://www.doj.gov.ph/files/hold%20departure.pdf

So does this mean that if the case is being tried in RTC then it is the court who issues the HDO and WLO? Otherwise, the DOJ also MAY also issue HDO if the case is being tried in lower courts.

the secretary of justice can also issue hdo or wlo if she believes it is warranted. you can request hdo with the secretary, but it is almost never granted. only wlo is granted.

so in bp 22 cases, your best (and probably only) bet is a wlo.

hello good day po! I just want to ask what action should I take if the criminal case against me has been dismissed but the hold departure order has not been lifted? The DOJ still denied my request to lift the HDO despite the fact that the criminal case has been dismissed. Please help me!

why did the doj refuse your request?