Short answer. It is suspended, not dismissed. If an information is filed by the prosecuting attorney while your civil action is pending, the Civil Code directs that the civil action be suspended until the criminal proceedings end. Your case survives — it simply waits for the criminal matter to finish.
What the law says
If during the pendency of the civil action, an information should be presented by the prosecuting attorney, the civil action shall be suspended until the termination of the criminal proceedings.
Civil Code, Article 35 — Civil Action Where No Criminal Case Prospers. Read the full provision →
Suspension is not dismissal
The distinction is the whole answer. A dismissed case is over and has to be started again, with everything that implies for time limits and for evidence that may not still be available. A suspended case is alive and simply paused. The article uses the word suspended and fixes the end of the pause precisely: until the termination of the criminal proceedings. When the criminal matter concludes, the civil action is there to be taken up again.
Why this provision exists in the first place
The article addresses a specific predicament. Someone claiming to be injured by a criminal offence charges another with it, and no criminal case follows — either no reasonable ground to believe a crime was committed is found, or the prosecuting attorney refuses or fails to institute proceedings. Rather than leave that person without a remedy, the Code lets them bring a civil action for damages, supported by a preponderance of evidence. The suspension clause deals with what happens if the criminal case then materialises after all.
The trigger is the filing of the information
What sets the suspension running is that an information should be presented by the prosecuting attorney during the pendency of the civil action. That is a definite event, not a rumour that charges are being considered or a complaint sitting somewhere for evaluation. The point of the rule is to stop the same underlying incident being litigated in two forums at once, and it takes effect once the criminal proceeding actually exists.
The defendant's protection in the same article
The article also lets the defendant move for security: upon the defendant's motion, the court may require the plaintiff to file a bond to indemnify the defendant should the complaint be found malicious. So the civil route this article opens comes with a check attached. This is general information about what the Code provides; how the suspension operates in a particular case, and what happens after the criminal proceeding ends, depends on its own circumstances.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank), represeted by Rosella A. santiago vs. Antonio O. Tobias III, G.R. No. 177780, January 25, 2012 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Allan M. Mendoza vs. Officers of Manila Water Employees Union, namely, Eduardo B. Borela, et al, G.R. No. 201595, January 25, 2016 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Isabelita Vital-Gozon vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 129132, July 8, 1998 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 35 — Civil Action Where No Criminal Case Prospers
- Civil Code, Article 29 — Civil Action After Acquittal on Reasonable Doubt