Separate Civil Action

Indeed, under the present revised Rules, the criminal action for violation of BP Blg. 22 includes the corresponding civil action to recover the amount of the checks. It should be stressed, this policy is intended to discourage the separate filing of the civil action. In fact, the Rules even prohibits the reservation of a separate civil action, i.e., one can no longer file a separate civil case after the criminal complaint is filed in court. In view of this special rule governing actions for violation of BP Blg. 22, Article 31 of the Civil Code is not applicable. (Cheng v. G.R. No. 174238, July 7, 2009)