Quick answer

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

the exact cause of action or offense;
whether the case is civil, criminal, labor, tax, administrative, probate, or another special proceeding;
the law creating the right or offense;
the date the right to sue accrued or the offense was discovered;
any valid interruption, suspension, or restart of the period; and
the act that legally counts as filing.

Start with the special law governing the claim. Use the Civil Code or the Revised Penal Code only when no more specific rule controls. When two legal theories are reasonably possible, calculate both and work from the earliest plausible deadline.

Do not rely solely on the date of the incident, the title of a complaint, an informal negotiation, or an assurance that the other party will settle.

The six-step method

1. Identify the exact remedy

Describe what happened and what relief is needed. For example:

collection of an unpaid written loan;
damages for negligence;
annulment or declaration of nullity of a contract;
recovery or possession of land;
illegal dismissal or unpaid wages;
prosecution for a Revised Penal Code offense;
prosecution under a special penal law;
appeal from an agency or court decision; or
presentation of a claim against a deceased person’s estate.

The allegations and principal relief—not merely the caption chosen by the claimant—determine the nature of the action. One event may support several remedies with different deadlines. A physical assault, for example, may produce a criminal case, civil liability arising from the crime, and an independent civil action.

2. Find the controlling law

Apply the sources in this order:

a special statute that creates the right, offense, or remedy;
its implementing regulations or governing procedural rule;
the Civil Code, Revised Penal Code, or Rules of Court;
Supreme Court decisions interpreting those provisions.

A general Civil Code period does not override a shorter period in a labor, tax, election, consumer, corporate, probate, or other special law.

3. Determine when the right to sue accrued

Under Articles 1150 and 1151 of the Civil Code, the general starting point is the day the action may legally be brought. A cause of action ordinarily exists when there is:

a legal right in favor of the claimant;
a corresponding obligation on the other party; and
an act or omission violating that right.

Common starting points include:

Fixed-date obligation: when payment or performance became due and was not made.
Obligation requiring demand: when a legally sufficient demand was made and the obligor failed to comply, unless the law or contract makes demand unnecessary.
Installment obligation: ordinarily, each unpaid installment may have its own accrual date; a valid acceleration clause can change the analysis.
Tort or injury to rights: generally, when the wrongful act and actionable injury occurred.
Fraud or mistake: discovery may control when the statute or applicable jurisprudence expressly provides for it.
Final judgment: when the judgment became final, although the procedure for execution imposes an earlier five-year window for execution by motion.
Continuing conduct: only a legally continuing violation can generate a new or continuing period. Continuing damage from a completed act does not automatically do so.

The “discovery rule” is an exception, not a universal way to postpone prescription. A claimant relying on discovery should be able to prove when the material facts became known and why they could not reasonably have been known earlier.

4. Select the applicable period

Common Civil Code periods

The following are general periods under Articles 1140 to 1149 of the Civil Code. They are subject to special laws and fact-specific exceptions.

Nature of civil action	General period
Real action over immovable property	30 years
Mortgage action	10 years
Action upon a written contract	10 years
Action upon an obligation created by law	10 years
Action upon a judgment	10 years
Recovery of movable property	8 years
Action upon an oral contract	6 years
Action upon a quasi-contract	6 years
Injury to the claimant’s rights	4 years
Quasi-delict or negligence	4 years
Other action with no period fixed elsewhere	5 years
Forcible entry or unlawful detainer	1 year
Civil action for defamation	1 year

These classifications require care:

A document’s existence does not automatically make every related claim an action “upon a written contract.”
A damages claim may be contractual, quasi-delictual, statutory, or based on an injury to rights.
Forcible-entry and unlawful-detainer cases have special accrual rules. Missing the one-year summary-remedy period may change the available action rather than settle ownership.
Article 1144 gives an action upon a judgment ten years, but Rule 39, Section 6 generally allows execution by motion only within five years from entry. After that, and before prescription, revival ordinarily requires an independent action.
Although the Civil Code mentions a 30-year period for real actions, registered-land disputes cannot be solved by that number alone. Section 47 of the Property Registration Decree provides that title to registered land cannot be acquired against the registered owner by prescription or adverse possession. Reconveyance, possession, trust, fraud, and nullity claims nevertheless have distinct rules.

Important civil exceptions

Some rights or actions do not prescribe, including:

an action or defense to declare an inexistent or void contract under Article 1410;
an action or defense for declaration of absolute nullity of marriage under Republic Act No. 8533;
the Civil Code rights to demand a right of way and to abate a public or private nuisance.

“Imprescriptible” should not be applied too broadly. A declaration of nullity may be imprescriptible while a related claim for money, restitution, possession, damages, or relief against a third person is subject to another period.

Voidable contracts are different from void contracts. Under Article 1391, an action to annul a voidable contract generally has a four-year period, counted:

from the end of intimidation, violence, or undue influence;
from discovery of mistake or fraud; or
from the end of guardianship for a contract entered into by a minor or another incapacitated person.

Personal status does not automatically stop prescription. Under Articles 1108 and 1109, prescription may run against minors who have legal representatives, but it does not run between spouses, between parents and children during the child’s minority or insanity, or between guardian and ward while guardianship continues.

5. Account for interruption or suspension

Civil actions

Article 1155 of the Civil Code provides three common modes of interruption:

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

A valid interruption generally wipes out the elapsed period and causes a fresh period to run. Whether a letter, email, message, partial payment, or other document qualifies depends on its language, authenticity, sender, recipient, and proof of delivery. Use a clear written demand and preserve evidence that it was received.

Do not assume that the following stop prescription:

a verbal demand;
settlement discussions;
a police blotter;
an informal agency inquiry;
a complaint sent to the wrong office;
a defective or prematurely filed case; or
a case later dismissed without prejudice.

Their effect depends on the governing law and the reason for dismissal.

Barangay conciliation

When Katarungang Pambarangay applies, prior barangay conciliation is generally a condition before going to court. Section 410(c) of the Local Government Code interrupts the prescriptive period upon filing the complaint with the punong barangay.

The period resumes when the complainant receives the certificate to file action, certificate of repudiation, or other specified certification. The statutory interruption cannot exceed 60 days from filing with the punong barangay. It is therefore a limited pause, not an unlimited extension.

Keep the barangay complaint, filing receipt, summonses, minutes, settlement documents, certificates, and proof of the date each document was received.

6. Compute and file conservatively

Create a written calculation:

Starting date

applicable statutory period − legally excluded or suspended time adjusted for any valid restart = provisional last day to file

Under Rule 22, the triggering day is generally excluded and the last day included. If the last day for a court filing falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday where the court sits, the period generally runs to the next working day. Special statutes or agency rules may prescribe a different method, so never rely on the weekend rule without checking the governing provision.

File early with the correct court, prosecutor, tribunal, or agency. Obtain a stamped receiving copy, electronic acknowledgment, docket number, official receipt, or other authoritative proof of timely filing.

Criminal cases

Offenses under the Revised Penal Code

Articles 90 and 91 of the Revised Penal Code provide these general periods:

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

When the statutory penalty is compound, the highest penalty is generally used for the first three categories. The current penalty prescribed by law—not a guess about the sentence a court might eventually impose—must be examined.

The period generally begins when the crime is discovered by the offended party, the authorities, or their agents. It is interrupted by the filing of the complaint or information and may run again when the proceedings end without conviction or acquittal, or are unjustifiably stopped for a reason not attributable to the accused. Under Article 91, the period does not run while the offender is absent from the Philippines.

In April 2026, the Supreme Court held that cyber libel, like traditional libel, prescribes in one year from discovery. See Causin v. People, G.R. No. 258524.

Offenses under special laws

First check whether the special law states its own prescriptive period. If it does not, Act No. 3326, as amended, generally provides:

Penalty under the special law	Prescriptive period
Fine only, or imprisonment not exceeding one month, or both	1 year
Imprisonment over one month but under two years	4 years
Imprisonment of at least two years but under six years	8 years
Imprisonment of at least six years	12 years
Municipal or city ordinance violation	2 months

The special law may replace these periods. Examples include statutes on violence against women and children, graft, elections, taxation, trafficking, and offenses against children.

Under Act No. 3326, prescription generally runs from commission of the violation or, if it was not known then, from its discovery. The statutory elements determine whether an offense was completed on one date or is legally continuing.

As to interruption, the Supreme Court’s current prospective rule is that filing a criminal complaint with the prosecution office tolls prescription, including offenses governed by the 2022 Rules on Expedited Procedures. This was clarified in People v. Consebido, G.R. No. 258563. Older incidents or filings may require analysis of the rules and jurisprudence then in effect.

A police report or blotter entry is not the same as a properly filed and docketed complaint with the prosecution office. When a short criminal period is involved, promptly secure proof that the complaint was formally received.

The prescription of the crime and the deadline for a related civil claim are separate questions. The loss of one remedy does not automatically establish whether another has prescribed.

Special proceedings and sector-specific deadlines

General Civil Code periods are only a starting point. Examples of materially different rules include:

Labor cases: Money claims arising from employment generally must be filed within three years from accrual under the Labor Code. A complaint for illegal dismissal is generally treated as an injury to rights and has a four-year period. Different dates may apply to dismissal and to each unpaid monetary benefit.
Claims against an estate: Once a probate court issues notice to creditors, Rule 86 ordinarily sets a court-fixed filing period of not less than six months and not more than 12 months after first publication. A court may, for cause and before an order of distribution, allow a late claim within a further period not exceeding one month. See the Rules of Court on claims against estates.
Tax cases: Assessment, protest, refund, and appeal deadlines are controlled by the applicable national or local tax law. Some require an administrative claim before a court case can be filed.
Administrative cases and judicial review: An agency’s rule may prescribe both a filing period and a much shorter period to appeal or seek reconsideration.
Government claims: Statutes may require prior notice, presentation to a government office, exhaustion of administrative remedies, or filing with a specialized tribunal.
Contractual dispute procedures: Arbitration or a contractual claim process may be mandatory, but participation does not necessarily stop statutory prescription unless the law or a valid rule gives it that effect.

A period to appeal, move for reconsideration, protest an assessment, or comply with an order is a reglementary deadline, not necessarily a prescriptive period. It may be as short as a few days and can cause a decision or assessment to become final even though the original claim once had a much longer limitation period.

Practical deadline checklist

Before deciding that a case is still timely, obtain answers to all of these questions:

What exact right, obligation, offense, or remedy is involved?
What are all reasonably supportable causes of action?
Is there a special law?
What was the penalty prescribed when the offense was committed, including later amendments that legally apply?
When did every element of the cause of action first exist?
Was a demand legally required?
When was the breach, refusal, injury, publication, discovery, dismissal, assessment, or final judgment?
Is the conduct truly continuing, or are only its effects continuing?
Was there a written demand or written acknowledgment?
Did the debtor make partial payments, and what documents prove them?
Was a barangay complaint required and filed?
Was a complaint formally docketed with the prosecutor, court, or agency?
Was any earlier case dismissed, and for what exact reason?
Is there an order, notice, publication, denial, or decision carrying a separate deadline?
Which date gives the earliest defensible last day?

If a necessary date is disputed, calculate alternative deadlines and file using the earliest one.

Evidence to preserve

Keep originals where possible and make secure, unedited backups of:

contracts, promissory notes, checks, invoices, receipts, and account statements;
due-date, acceleration, notice, and dispute-resolution clauses;
demand letters and proof of delivery;
written acknowledgments, settlement proposals, and partial-payment records;
complete email threads and messages with dates, sender information, and attachments;
photographs, videos, original files, and metadata;
medical records, medico-legal certificates, incident reports, and police records;
employment contracts, payslips, schedules, dismissal notices, and company communications;
land titles, deeds, tax declarations, surveys, and registry records;
court or agency decisions, envelopes, electronic notices, and proof of receipt;
barangay filings and certificates; and
prosecutor or court receiving stamps, docket numbers, and official receipts.

Prepare a chronology identifying the source document for every date. Do not alter screenshots, crop out context, fabricate missing records, or coach witnesses.

Common mistakes

Counting from the date a lawyer was consulted instead of the legal accrual date.
Using the period for a written contract merely because some written document exists.
Treating all fraud claims as automatically beginning upon discovery.
Assuming negotiations, mediation, or promises to pay suspend the deadline.
Sending repeated verbal demands but preserving no written proof.
Confusing filing with the police, barangay, prosecutor, agency, and court.
Treating an administrative complaint as if it automatically tolls a civil or criminal period.
Ignoring a special law because the Civil Code appears to provide more time.
Waiting for complete evidence before taking steps to preserve the claim.
Filing in the wrong forum near the deadline.
Assuming dismissal “without prejudice” always leaves the original time intact.
Ignoring shorter appeal, protest, or probate deadlines.
Assuming minority, absence abroad, family relationship, or incapacity always stops prescription.
Believing that registered-land disputes are governed by a single 30-year rule.

When legal help is urgent

Obtain immediate advice if:

the earliest possible deadline is within the next few weeks;
the claim involves defamation, ejectment, an ordinance violation, or another period measured in months;
a court, prosecutor, tax authority, labor office, or agency has issued a decision or notice;
a notice to creditors has been published in an estate proceeding;
the defendant is leaving the country, hiding assets, or disposing of property;
a child, incapacitated person, estate, government office, or registered land is involved;
several civil and criminal remedies arise from the same incident;
an earlier complaint was rejected or dismissed;
the case requires barangay proceedings before court filing;
there is an arrest, detention, warrant, threat, stalking, or ongoing violence; or
the starting date, discovery date, legal classification, or effect of an interruption is disputed.

For immediate danger, contact law enforcement or the appropriate emergency and protective-services office first. Deadline analysis should not delay safety measures, medical care, or an application for available protection.

Frequently asked questions

Does a demand letter extend the deadline?

A written extrajudicial demand can interrupt prescription of a civil action under Article 1155, particularly an action to enforce an obligation. It must be clear, attributable to the creditor, and provably delivered. It does not automatically reset every kind of legal deadline.

Can an email or text message count as a written demand or acknowledgment?

It may, depending on its content, authenticity, attribution, and admissibility. Preserve the complete conversation and transmission details. For a time-sensitive claim, use a formal demand with reliable proof of service instead of relying only on a screenshot.

Do settlement talks stop prescription?

Not by themselves. A qualifying written demand, written acknowledgment, payment, statutory suspension, or timely filing may have legal effect. Informal negotiations ordinarily should not be treated as protection against prescription.

Does filing at the barangay stop the clock?

If the dispute is within the Katarungang Pambarangay system, filing with the punong barangay interrupts the applicable period, but only for the period allowed by Section 410(c)—not more than 60 days. The clock resumes upon receipt of the relevant certification or when the statutory maximum is reached.

Does a police blotter stop criminal prescription?

Do not assume so. A blotter documents a report but is not necessarily the complaint or information that legally institutes proceedings. Ensure that a proper complaint is formally filed and docketed with the prosecution office or court as the governing rule requires.

What if the claimant discovered the wrongdoing years later?

Late discovery matters only when the applicable statute or Supreme Court doctrine uses discovery as the starting point. The claimant must also establish the actual discovery date and address facts suggesting earlier constructive knowledge.

What happens if the last day is a weekend or holiday?

For periods governed by Rule 22, the deadline generally moves to the next working day. Verify the special statute, agency rule, filing system, and holiday applicable to the place of filing. Filing before the calculated last day is safer.

Can a prescribed debt still be paid?

Yes. Prescription may bar judicial enforcement without erasing every natural obligation. Under the Civil Code, a debtor who voluntarily pays a prescribed civil obligation generally cannot recover the payment merely because the action had prescribed.

Can the court still hear a case if prescription is disputed?

Often, yes. Accrual, discovery, interruption, and the true nature of the action may require evidence. But if prescription is clear from the pleading and controlling records, the case may be dismissed. A claimant should plead the material dates and facts supporting timeliness accurately.

Is an online calculator enough?

No. A calculator can count days but cannot determine the correct cause of action, governing law, accrual date, legal effect of a demand, or proper filing event.

Official sources

This article provides general Philippine legal information, not legal advice or a definitive computation for any particular case. Prescription depends on the applicable law, allegations, documents, dates, procedural history, and controlling jurisprudence. Sources were checked as of August 3, 2026.