iv. Place and Date of Commission of the Offense

Date of Commission of the Offense

General Rule: It is not necessary to state in the complaint or information the precise date the offense was committed. (People v. Bacus, G.R. No. 208354, 2015)

Exception: If the date is material ingredient of the offense. (Examples: Election offenses, Infanticide)

The remedy against an indictment that fails to allege the time of commission of the offense with sufficient definiteness is a motion for bill of particulars (Rule 116, Sec. 10). The failure to move or specification or the quashal of the information on any of the grounds provided for in the Rules deprives the accused of the right to object to evidence which could be lawfully introduced and admitted under an information of more or less general terms but which sufficiently charges the accused with a definite crime. Besides, the exact date of the commission of the crime is not an essential element of the crime. (People v. Elpedes, G.R. No. 137106-07, 2001)

“On or about the 27th day of November 2000” was held to be sufficient. (People v. Delfin, G.R. No. 201572, 2014)

The phrase “on or about” in the Information does not require the prosecution to prove any precise date. (Escandor v. People, G.R. No. 211962, 2020)

However, it was also held that the phrase “on or about the year 1992” encompasses not only the twelve months of 1992, but includes the years prior and subsequent to 1992. Therefore, the accused was deprived of his right to intelligently prepare for his defense and convincingly refute the charges against him. (People v. Pareha, G.R. No. 202122, 2014)

Failure to specify the exact date or times when the rape occurred does not ipso facto make the Information defective on its face, as the gravamen of rape is carnal knowledge of the woman (People v. Cinco, G.R. No. 186460, 2009)

Purpose:

To ensure that the defendant is not compelled to move to, and appear in, a different court from that of the province where the crime was committed as it would cause him great inconvenience in looking for his witnesses and other evidence in another place (Treñas v. People, G.R. No. 195002, 2012)