Quick answer

There is no single prescriptive period for filing a case in the Philippines. The correct deadline depends on:

The exact cause of action or criminal offense;
Whether the Civil Code, Revised Penal Code, a special law, or a procedural rule controls;
The event that made the claim enforceable or started prescription;
Any valid interruption, suspension, or statutory exception; and
Whether the required complaint was filed with the correct court, prosecutor, agency, or tribunal.

A useful working formula is:

Filing deadline = legally prescribed period counted from the correct starting event, adjusted only for interruptions or suspensions recognized by the controlling law.

Do not calculate from the date of the contract, incident, or discovery automatically. Identify the applicable law and the date on which the particular right of action accrued. When two classifications are reasonably possible, work from the earlier defensible deadline and seek legal advice immediately.

First identify the exact legal claim

The caption someone plans to place on a complaint—such as “damages,” “annulment,” or “recovery of property”—does not by itself determine the period. Courts examine the material facts alleged and the relief justified by those facts. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the allegations in the complaint determine the nature of the action. A claim based on a void contract, for example, may have a different period from one based on a merely voidable contract, even if both are informally called “annulment.” See Doloreich v. BRDI, G.R. No. 261292.

Ask these questions before counting:

What legal right was violated?
What act or omission constituted the violation?
What remedy is being requested?
Is the obligation written, oral, imposed by law, or based on negligence?
Is the matter civil, criminal, labor, tax, election, family, probate, land, administrative, or another specialized proceeding?
Does a special statute prescribe its own period?
Is there a condition that had to occur first, such as maturity, demand, denial of a claim, barangay conciliation, or exhaustion of an administrative remedy?

A cause of action ordinarily accrues only when there is a legal right, a corresponding duty, and an act or omission violating that right. The last element—the breach—is generally the operative event. See Government Service Insurance System v. Geronimo, G.R. No. 255802.

General periods for civil actions

The following are the principal default periods under Articles 1140 to 1149 of the Civil Code. They apply only when no more specific provision governs.

Type of civil action	General period
Real action over immovable property	30 years
Foreclosure or other mortgage action	10 years
Action upon a written contract	10 years from accrual
Action upon an obligation created by law	10 years from accrual
Action upon a judgment	10 years from finality, subject to the rules on execution
Recovery of movable property	8 years from loss of possession, subject to statutory qualifications
Action upon an oral contract	6 years
Action upon a quasi-contract, such as certain payments made by mistake	6 years
Action whose period is not fixed elsewhere	5 years from accrual
Injury to the plaintiff’s rights	4 years
Quasi-delict, including many negligence claims without a pre-existing contract	4 years
Forcible entry or unlawful detainer	1 year, with the starting point depending on how possession became unlawful
Civil action for defamation	1 year

These categories are not interchangeable. The mere existence of a written document does not automatically make every related claim an “action upon a written contract.” The document must be the source of the obligation being enforced.

Important civil-law variations

Several common matters follow different rules:

Employment money claims: Money claims arising from employer-employee relations generally must be filed within three years from accrual under Article 306 of the Labor Code. Claims for successive unpaid benefits may accrue separately. See Villafuerte v. Disc Contractors, G.R. Nos. 240202–03.
Illegal dismissal: The Supreme Court generally treats an illegal-dismissal action as an injury to rights subject to the four-year period under Article 1146, distinct from the three-year limit on monetary claims.
Voidable contracts: An action for annulment generally has a four-year period. Under Article 1391, the starting point depends on the ground: cessation of intimidation, violence, or undue influence; discovery of mistake or fraud; or termination of guardianship in the specified incapacity cases.
Void or inexistent contracts: Article 1410 provides that an action or defense to declare the inexistence of a void contract does not prescribe. Whether a contract is truly void rather than voidable is a legal conclusion that depends on its facts and governing law. See Spouses Dela Cruz v. Spouses Capco, G.R. No. 222166.
Nullity of marriage: An action or defense for declaration of absolute nullity of a marriage does not prescribe, although rules on who may file and the required judicial process still apply. Republic Act No. 8533.
Registered land: No title to registered land may be acquired against the registered owner through prescription or adverse possession under Section 47 of Presidential Decree No. 1529. This does not make every lawsuit involving titled land imprescriptible. A particular action based on contract, fraud, constructive trust, or another right may still be barred by extinctive prescription.
Claims against a deceased person’s estate: A probate court’s notice to creditors creates a separate claims period. Covered money claims not presented within the period fixed in the notice may be barred under Rule 86, even if an ordinary Civil Code period appears to remain. Rules of Special Proceedings.
Enforcement of judgments: A final judgment ordinarily may be executed by motion within five years from entry. After that, and before the ten-year limitation expires, enforcement generally requires an independent action to revive the judgment. The ten years do not begin only after the first five years end. Rule 39, Section 6; Sara Lee Philippines v. Spouses Macatlang, G.R. No. 234636.

Tax, election, agrarian, environmental, intellectual-property, government-contract, administrative, and regulatory claims frequently have their own much shorter periods and mandatory filing routes. The Civil Code table should not be used without checking the governing special law.

Determine the correct starting date

Under Article 1150 of the Civil Code, prescription is generally counted from the day the action may be brought. That is not necessarily the day the parties signed a document or first dealt with each other.

Depending on the claim, the starting event may be:

The contractual due date;
The debtor’s failure to perform when performance became demandable;
Receipt of a required demand;
Express or implied rejection of a claim;
Delivery of defective goods;
The harmful act or resulting injury;
Discovery of fraud, but only when the applicable law uses a discovery rule;
Loss of possession;
The end of a fiduciary, guardianship, or accounting relationship;
Entry or finality of a judgment; or
Each individual due date for recurring payments or installments.

For a mortgage or debt that becomes enforceable only upon maturity or demand, prescription ordinarily runs when the creditor obtains a complete right to sue, not simply when the agreement was signed. See Maidan v. Spouses Razo, G.R. No. 192971.

Do not assume that later negotiations, repeated demands, continuing harm, or the defendant’s continued refusal automatically move the starting date. A completed act with continuing effects is not necessarily a continuing violation. Conversely, separate missed installments or repeated unlawful acts may produce separate accrual dates. The contract, statute, and pleaded facts must be examined.

Interruption and suspension in civil cases

For actions governed by Article 1155 of the Civil Code, prescription is interrupted by:

Filing the action in court;
A written extrajudicial demand by the creditor; or
A written acknowledgment of the debt by the debtor.

Supreme Court decisions explain that a qualifying interruption generally wipes out the period already elapsed and starts a fresh period. See Republic v. Heirs of Ramos, G.R. No. 222442. This rule should not be applied mechanically to a deadline created by a special law, procedural rule, contract, or administrative regulation.

Important qualifications include:

An oral demand normally does not satisfy Article 1155.
The sender must be able to prove the content, date, delivery, and recipient of a written demand.
Informal negotiations, a request for more time, mediation, or a complaint to an unrelated office does not necessarily stop prescription.
A demand sent after the claim has already prescribed should not be assumed to revive it.
Filing must comply with rules on the proper tribunal and docket fees. Courts have held that payment of the prescribed filing fee is important to acquisition of jurisdiction, and delayed payment cannot safely be carried beyond the applicable prescriptive period.
Do not assume that a complaint filed in the wrong forum, later withdrawn, or dismissed without prejudice permanently preserves the claim.

Barangay conciliation

When Katarungang Pambarangay proceedings are required, filing the complaint with the punong barangay interrupts the applicable period while the dispute is under mediation, conciliation, or arbitration. The period resumes upon the complainant’s receipt of the relevant certification or repudiation document, but the interruption cannot exceed 60 days from filing with the punong barangay. Local Government Code, Section 410(c).

This is a limited pause, not permission to disregard the original deadline. Obtain and preserve the stamped barangay complaint, notices, settlement records, and certificate to file action.

Other statutory circumstances

Article 1154 excludes a period during which a creditor was prevented by a fortuitous event from enforcing the right. Articles 1108 and 1109 also contain rules involving minors, incapacitated persons, spouses, parents and children, and guardians and wards. Minority by itself should not automatically be treated as stopping prescription; the presence of a parent, guardian, or legal representative and the particular relationship matter.

Prescriptive periods for criminal offenses

First determine whether the offense is defined and punished by the Revised Penal Code or by a special law.

Offenses under the Revised Penal Code

Under Articles 90 and 91 of the Revised Penal Code, the general periods are:

Penalty or offense	Prescriptive period
Death, reclusion perpetua, or reclusion temporal	20 years
Other afflictive penalty	15 years
Correctional penalty, except arresto mayor	10 years
Offense punishable by arresto mayor	5 years
Libel and similar offenses	1 year
Oral defamation and slander by deed	6 months
Light offense	2 months

When the statutory penalty is compound, Article 90 generally uses the highest penalty as the basis for the first three classifications.

For Revised Penal Code offenses, prescription starts when the crime is discovered by the offended party, the authorities, or their agents. It is interrupted by filing the complaint or information and begins running again when the proceedings terminate without conviction or acquittal, or are unjustifiably stopped for a reason not attributable to the accused. The period does not run while the offender is absent from the Philippines.

As a current example, the Supreme Court has affirmed that both traditional libel and cyber libel prescribe in one year from discovery by the offended party, authorities, or their agents. Publication and discovery are not conclusively presumed to occur on the same date. Causing v. People, G.R. No. 258524, April 8, 2026.

Offenses under special laws

If the special law states its own period, that provision controls. For example, Republic Act No. 9262 prescribes 20 years for acts under Sections 5(a) to 5(f) and 10 years for acts under Sections 5(g) to 5(i). Section 24, Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act.

If the special law does not provide a period, Act No. 3326 generally provides:

Penalty under the special law	General period
Fine only, imprisonment not exceeding one month, or both	1 year
Imprisonment of more than one month but less than two years	4 years
Imprisonment of at least two years but less than six years	8 years
Imprisonment of six years or more	12 years
Violation of a municipal ordinance	2 months

Act No. 3326 generally reckons from commission, or from discovery if the violation was not known when committed, and addresses interruption through proceedings against the responsible person. Application can depend on the wording of the special statute and the procedural rules in force.

Amendments that lengthen criminal prescription cannot automatically be applied retroactively to an earlier offense when that would prejudice the accused. Always check the law in force when the alleged offense occurred.

What filing interrupts criminal prescription?

Rule 110 provides that criminal actions requiring preliminary investigation are instituted by filing the complaint with the proper investigating officer. Other criminal actions are instituted through the court or prosecutor as the rule specifies. The institution of the action interrupts prescription unless a special law provides otherwise. Rule 110, Section 1.

The Supreme Court’s current prospective rule is that filing the criminal complaint before the Department of Justice prosecution office tolls prescription even for offenses covered by the 2022 Rules on Expedited Procedures in the First Level Courts. Earlier contrary rulings were abandoned for this purpose. People v. Consebido, G.R. No. 258563, April 2, 2025.

A police blotter, private affidavit kept by the complainant, social-media report, or informal request for investigation should not be treated as equivalent to filing the legally sufficient complaint with the proper prosecution office or court.

How to count the period

Use a dated timeline rather than counting from memory.

Exclude the day of the triggering act or event.
Include the last day of the period.
Under Section 31 of the Administrative Code of 1987, a “year” is generally 12 calendar months. The Supreme Court has applied this later rule instead of treating every year as exactly 365 days. CIR v. Mirant Pagbilao Corp., G.R. No. 172129.
Under Rule 22, if the last day of a court-filing period falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday where the court sits, the period generally extends to the next working day. 2019 Rules of Civil Procedure.
Check whether a special law or tribunal uses calendar days, working days, or a different extension rule.
Recalculate separately after every event claimed to interrupt or suspend the period.

For example, if a written contractual obligation became enforceable on March 15, 2022, a ten-year period would ordinarily begin counting the next day and end on March 15, 2032. If Article 1155 validly applies and a provable written extrajudicial demand interrupted prescription on June 1, 2026, a fresh ten-year period may result. That illustration should not be used without confirming that demand was legally required or effective and that no special rule controls.

Never plan to file on the theoretical last day. Court closures, incorrect fees, rejected electronic submissions, wrong venues, missing signatures, or an unexpected legal classification can defeat a last-minute filing. Check the current filing instructions of the relevant court or tribunal; for lower courts, official electronic-filing updates are published by the Office of the Court Administrator.

Build a deadline worksheet

For each possible claim or offense, record:

Question	Information to enter
Exact claim or offense	Statutory name and elements
Controlling provision	Code, special law, regulation, or rule
Period	Years, months, or days
Starting event	Due date, breach, discovery, demand, denial, or other event
Start date	Supported by a document or witness
Interruptions	Filing, written demand, acknowledgment, barangay proceeding
Suspensions	Exact legal basis and beginning/end dates
Unadjusted deadline	Calendar computation
Adjusted deadline	After legally recognized changes
Correct filing body	Court, prosecutor, agency, or tribunal
Filing proof	Stamped copy, official receipt, platform acknowledgment, or registry record

If the facts support more than one legal classification, prepare a separate computation for each and use the earliest date as the working deadline.

Evidence to preserve

Prescription disputes are often decided by documents proving when an event occurred. Preserve originals and reliable copies of:

Contracts, promissory notes, receipts, invoices, amendments, and payment schedules;
Proof of maturity and default;
Demand letters and complete proof of delivery or receipt;
Written acknowledgments, requests for extensions, and partial-payment records;
Emails, messages, and correspondence showing a denial or refusal;
Medical records, photographs, incident reports, and witness details;
Police and barangay records;
Stamped complaints, filing receipts, docket-fee receipts, and electronic acknowledgments;
Prosecutor’s resolutions and court orders;
Barangay complaints, notices, settlements, and certificates to file action;
Decisions, proof of receipt, certificates of finality, and entries of judgment;
Land titles, tax declarations, deeds, and Registry of Deeds records;
Online posts in their original context, URLs, access dates, account information, and metadata;
Documents explaining delayed discovery, incapacity, guardianship, absence, or an alleged fortuitous event; and
The version of the statute or regulation in force when the relevant event occurred.

Keep an event log identifying the date, document, participants, and legal significance of each entry. Do not alter screenshots, messages, or electronic files; retain the original devices and files when practicable.

Common mistakes

Counting from the contract date without determining when the obligation became enforceable;
Assuming every written document creates a ten-year period;
Using the complaint’s intended title instead of analyzing its factual allegations;
Applying the Civil Code when a special law supplies another period;
Treating private negotiations or an oral demand as an interruption;
Assuming barangay proceedings suspend the period for their entire duration rather than for a maximum of 60 days;
Confusing filing with the police with filing a legally sufficient criminal complaint before the proper prosecutor or court;
Filing in the wrong tribunal or omitting required docket fees;
Believing that discovery always controls, even when the governing law counts from commission or accrual;
Treating each day of continuing damage as a new violation;
Applying a later statutory amendment to an older event without checking retroactivity;
Confusing an original prescriptive period with the much shorter period to appeal, seek reconsideration, or challenge an administrative ruling; and
Waiting until the final day to obtain documents, complete barangay proceedings, or determine jurisdiction.

When legal help is urgent

Consult a lawyer immediately when:

The shortest possible deadline is within 60 days;
The matter may involve a two-month, six-month, or one-year criminal period;
A one-year ejectment or defamation period may apply;
You have received a court judgment, administrative decision, notice to creditors, tax assessment, election ruling, or order with a stated response or appeal deadline;
The claim involves a child, domestic or sexual violence, continuing threats, detention, or immediate safety;
Fraud or concealment affected when the event was discovered;
A demand, acknowledgment, barangay complaint, agency filing, or earlier dismissed case may have changed the computation;
The defendant left the Philippines;
The claim involves registered land, inheritance, government liability, or several possible causes of action; or
The apparent deadline has already passed.

Eligible indigent clients may seek free legal assistance from the Public Attorney’s Office. A criminal complainant may also confirm filing requirements with the appropriate city or provincial prosecution office through the Department of Justice National Prosecution Service.

Frequently asked questions

Does a demand letter extend the deadline?

A qualifying written extrajudicial demand may interrupt prescription under Article 1155 and start a fresh period. It must concern the enforceable obligation, be provable, and be governed by that provision. It does not automatically affect special-law or procedural deadlines.

Does filing at the barangay stop prescription?

It may, when the dispute falls under barangay conciliation. The statutory interruption is limited to a maximum of 60 days and ends earlier upon receipt of the relevant certificate or repudiation document.

Is a police blotter enough to stop criminal prescription?

Do not rely on it. The legally significant event is generally filing the proper criminal complaint or information with the prosecution office or court under the applicable rule or special law.

What if the wrongdoing was discovered years later?

Later discovery matters only when the controlling law makes discovery the starting event. Evidence must establish when the offended party, authorities, or their agents actually or legally discovered the material facts.

Can a civil claim still be filed if the period appears to have expired?

A lawyer should first check whether the claim was misclassified, accrued later, was interrupted or suspended, or is legally imprescriptible. Filing a plainly prescribed action may lead to dismissal and additional expense, but an apparent expiration should not be accepted without examining the documents.

Can prescription be waived?

Civil prescription is generally a defense and prescription already acquired may, under the Civil Code, be renounced in appropriate circumstances. A waiver of the right to prescribe in the future is not valid. Criminal prescription is different: it totally extinguishes criminal liability and is not ordinarily lost merely because the accused was arraigned or failed to raise it immediately.

If the last day is a weekend or holiday, may filing wait until Monday?

Rule 22 generally moves a court deadline falling on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday to the next working day. Confirm that the particular court, agency, or special statute follows that rule and that no electronic-filing directive changes what must be submitted.

This article provides general Philippine legal information, not legal advice or a lawyer-client relationship. Prescription depends on the exact facts, documents, governing law, and filing history. Primary legal sources and current procedures were checked as of August 3, 2026.