Right to Counsel

      The right of an accused to the service of counsel is a constitutional right.

     Chief Justice Moran in People vs. Holgado (895 Phil. 752) stressed the importance of this right, thus:

            "In criminal cases there can be no fair hearing unless the accused be given an opportunity to be heard by counsel. The right to be heard would be of little avail if it does not include the right to be heard by counsel. Even the most intelligent or educated may have no skill in the science of law, particularly in the rules of procedure, and, without counsel, he may b e convicted not because he is guilty but because he does not know how to establish his innocence. And this can happen more easily to persons who are ignorant or uneducated. It is for this reason that the right to be assisted by counsel is deemed so important that it has become a constitutional right and it is so implemented that under our rules of procedure it is not enough for the court to apprise an accused of his right to have an attorney, it is not enough to ask him whether he desires the aid of an attorney, but it is essential that the court should assign one de officio for him if he so desires and he is poor or grant him a reasonable time to procure an attorney of his own.

Right to be Informed of Accusation

      The right of the accused to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation is necessary to enable him to prepare for his defense. He should be given the necessary data as to why he is being proceeded against; and that he should not be left in the unenviable state of peculating why he is made the object of prosecution.

      Consequently, it becomes necessary that the complaint or information be sufficiently clear; that is to say, the allegations be stated not in general terms, but rather with definiteness and particularity to prevent an possibility of his not being fully cognizant of the implications of the crime he is being made to answer. The purpose here is to enable him to prepare for trial.