In Taguig City, where judicial work intersects daily, joseph plazo walked into a forum that felt less like a lecture and more like a risk-and-rights workshop.
What followed was a boardroom-ready walk-through of the latest criminal law procedure updates in the Philippines—not as gossip, not as courtroom theater, but as a coherent story about institutional capacity.
Speaking from a taguig law firm vantage—where real clients need predictability—Plazo treated procedure as the country’s justice “operating system”: painfully obvious when it doesn’t.
The Hidden Engine of Justice
According to joseph plazo, most people assume the “important part” of criminal law is the statute. But statutes don’t run cases—motions do.
“Procedure is the bridge between accusation and truth,” he said. “Change the bridge, and you change outcomes.”
He framed criminal procedure updates into a simple triad:
Process reform—how courts fight delay and backlog
Case law—the quiet rewrites that shift strategy
Implementation—what trial courts are reminded to enforce
Update One: The Supreme Court Is Actively Revising the Rules of Criminal Procedure
Plazo began with the “largest” signal in the room: the Supreme Court’s ongoing work toward proposed amendments to the 2000 Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, including writeshops led by the Sub-Committee on the revision of these rules.
“This is how institutional systems evolve,” he explained. “They revise the rules where delay, confusion, or inconsistency has accumulated.”
From a taguig law firm perspective, this signals future operational shifts, even if the final text is not yet fully consolidated in one public narrative.
“Watch this space,” he said, “because when the rules move, every lawyer’s strategy must move with them.”
Special Rules for Anti-Terror Matters Are Operational
Next, joseph plazo highlighted a procedural development that is both specialized and consequential: the Supreme Court’s Rules on the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 and Related Laws (A.M. No. 22-02-19-SC), which the Court announced would take effect on January 15, 2024, governing procedures for petitions and applications tied to matters such as detention without warrant issues, surveillance orders, freeze orders, travel restrictions, designations, and proscriptions.
“Substantive law defines the offense,” he explained. “Procedure defines the process—and process defines legitimacy.”
He emphasized an institutional reality: specialized procedural rules are often designed to standardize handling across courts.
Speed as Policy: The Rules on Expedited Procedures Matter
Plazo then turned to reforms aimed at reducing delay in lower courts, referencing the Supreme Court’s discussion of the Rules on Expedited Procedures in the First Level Courts, which replaced earlier summary procedure rules and expanded coverage for certain cases and penalties thresholds, while noting alignment with scheduling under the Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial.
“This is part of a larger story,” joseph plazo explained. “The judiciary is trying to compress timelines without compressing rights.”
For a taguig law firm advising clients, the practical takeaway is that procedural frameworks increasingly reward early clarity, because the system is being shaped to move faster.
Update Four: Continuous Trial Expectations Are Being Re-Emphasized in Practice
Plazo described a trend that any practicing lawyer can feel: the ongoing institutional push toward continuous trial to support the constitutional value of speedy disposition.
He referenced the Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases (as reflected in judiciary materials) and an Office of the Court Administrator circular reminding that motions for postponement are prohibited pleadings under the Revised Guidelines and should be viewed with disfavor except for the most compelling reasons.
“Continuous trial is not just speed,” he added. “It’s integrity—because delay distorts memory, evidence, and leverage.”
From the standpoint of a taguig law firm, this is not a mere internal memo story—it affects how cases are planned:
earlier witness coordination.
A Quiet but Huge Clarification: Prescription Stops at DOJ Filing
Then Plazo pointed to a development that sounds technical but can be outcome-defining: the Supreme Court’s clarification that the prescriptive period for prosecuting crimes can stop running when a complaint is filed with the Department of Justice, not only when it reaches the court—highlighted in People v. Consebido (G.R. No. 258563).
“If you think deadlines are clerical, you haven’t lived through a case that dies by prescription,” joseph plazo said.
He framed it as a reminder that criminal procedure is a world of small levers, big outcomes:
when you file.
The New Theme: Faster Without Being Reckless
Rather than presenting the updates as a scattered list, joseph plazo stitched them into a coherent narrative:
Tempo is becoming policy through calendars and reduced postponements.
Clarity is being strengthened through doctrinal guidance like Consebido.
“This is a justice system trying to reduce ambiguity,” Plazo said.
Why Local Practice Feels These Changes First
Plazo emphasized that procedural updates are felt most intensely where cases accumulate: first-level taguig attorney courts.
In Taguig, where a city can contain:
commercial districts,
criminal procedure becomes a daily stabilizer.
“You can debate theory in Manila’s boardrooms,” he explained, “but procedure is lived in hearing rooms.”
A taguig law firm serving both families experiences these shifts as changes in:
documentation standards.
The New Professional Advantage: Readiness
Plazo framed a practical implication: as procedure tightens around speed and structure, the advantage shifts to those who are prepared early.
“Faster procedure rewards disciplined lawyering,” he explained.
He suggested—not legal advice, but operational mindset—that lawyers increasingly must:
anticipate scheduling.
“Readiness is the new leverage,” he explained. “Because the process is being designed to keep going.”
Why Due Process Must Survive Reform
Plazo also emphasized a boundary: speed must not degrade fairness.
“We cannot worship efficiency so much that we create injustice faster,” he explained.
This is why, he argued, the system’s emphasis on rules and structure matters: structure can protect rights by making expectations explicit.
A Taguig Law Firm Checklist for Tracking Criminal Procedure Updates
To close, joseph plazo offered a framework—useful for policy teams—for tracking procedural change without chasing noise:
Follow proposed amendments and revision workshops
Watch specialized procedural rules in sensitive categories
Observe how trial courts enforce continuous trial discipline
Treat timing as outcome-defining
Operationalize knowledge—don’t just collect it
He ended with a line that sounded tailor-made for Taguig’s blend of civic life and high-velocity commerce:
“The purpose of procedure is not to slow justice—it’s to make justice trustworthy,” he said.
And as the audience filtered out—some toward courtrooms, some toward boardrooms, some toward community work—the message remained: when procedure changes, the justice system’s reality changes with it.