Dear PAO,

I was charged with three counts of violation of Batas Pambansa (BP) 22 some seven
years ago. The case was dismissed because the complainant and I settled the payments of
the checks. I am applying for work abroad and when I was securing government
clearances, my BP 22 case still appeared in their system. Upon inquiry with the court,
they said that the dismissal was provisional and not yet permanent and that I should
consult a lawyer if I wanted it to be permanent. The court personnel did not explain
anymore what I needed to do and kept on insisting that I consult a lawyer instead. Please
help me with my problem.
Mary Jay

Dear Mary Jay,

The provision of Section 8, Rule 117 of the Rules of Court governing provisional dismissal is
applicable in your case. It provides that “a case shall not be provisionally dismissed except with
the express consent of the accused and with notice to the offended party; the provisional
dismissal of the offense punishable by imprisonment not exceeding six (6) years or a fine of any
amount, or both, shall become permanent one (1) year after issuance of the order without the
case having been revived. With respect to offenses punishable by imprisonment of more than six
(6) years, their provisional dismissal shall become permanent two (2) years after issuance of the
order without the case having been revived.”

As held in People of the Philippines, et al. v. Panfilo Lacson, G.R. 149453, April 1, 2003, this
rule on provisional dismissal was conceptualized by the committee on the revision of the rules
and approved by the Court en banc primarily to enhance the administration of the criminal
justice system and the rights to due process of the State and the accused by eliminating the
deleterious practice of trial courts of provisionally dismissing criminal cases on motion of either
the prosecution or the accused or jointly, either with no time-bar for the revival thereof or with a
specific or definite period for such revival by the public prosecutor. There were times when such
criminal cases were no longer revived or re-filed due to causes beyond the control of the public
prosecutor or due to reasons only known to the concerned prosecutor.

As you have stated, your case for violation of BP 22 was already dismissed some seven years
ago. However, the dismissal, according to the court personnel, was merely provisional or
temporary. This provisional or temporary dismissal of the case only means that the State, which
is prosecuting the case, can still revive the complaint against you within the period stated under
the Rules of Court. Since the penalty for violation of BP 22, which is being charged against you,
is below six years and considering the lapse of more than one year, the order of the court
provisionally dismissing the complaint can now be permanent. To initiate this, it is but proper to
file before the court that rendered the order a motion praying for the permanent dismissal of the
case. You may proceed to the Public Attorney’s Office-District Office of the place where the
court is situated for advice. Accordingly, a public attorney will assist you in filing the proper
motion after assessment of the case and your qualification as a client of the office.