Short answer. It depends on when death was punishable. Rule 114, Section 6 defines a capital offense as one which, under the law existing both at the time it was committed and at the time bail is applied for, may be punished with death. If death is no longer a possible penalty at either point, it does not qualify.
What the law says
A capital offense is an offense which, under the law existing at the time of its commission and of the application for admission to bail, may be punished with death.
Rule 114, Section 6 — Capital offense defined. Read the full provision →
Two points in time must both qualify
Section 6's definition has a double timing requirement: the offense must be punishable by death both under the law in force when it was committed and under the law in force when bail is being applied for. It is not enough that death was once a possible penalty at the moment the act was done, and it is not enough that some earlier or later statute happened to authorize death for that class of offense. Both checkpoints — commission and the bail application itself — must independently line up before the label 'capital offense' attaches for purposes of the bail rules.
Why this classification matters for bail
Whether an offense is capital changes how bail works under the rules — bail as a matter of right versus bail as a matter of discretion turns significantly on whether the offense charged is punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment, and on the strength of the evidence of guilt. An offense correctly classified as capital generally means bail is not a matter of right if the evidence of guilt is strong, unlike offenses carrying lesser penalties. None of this changes how a court evaluates the strength of the evidence once an offense is properly classified as capital; the classification only determines whether bail is a matter of right or of discretion, leaving the separate question of whether the evidence of guilt is actually strong to be resolved on the specific facts and proof presented in the bail hearing itself.
Legislative changes can shift the classification
Because the definition is tied to 'the law existing' at the relevant times, changes in penalty laws matter, and the Philippines has gone through exactly this kind of change: the death penalty was constitutionally abolished, later restored by statute for specific crimes, and then abolished again by a later law. An offense once punishable by death may cease to be a capital offense if the penalty law in force when bail is sought no longer authorizes death, even though the acts charged and the original information are unchanged. Counsel handling bail applications has to check current law, not the maximum penalty printed in the charge sheet.