● Plea bargaining is allowed during the arraignment, the pre-trial, or even up to the point when the prosecution already rested its case (Estipona v. Lobrigo, G.R. No. 226679, August 15, 2017).

● Ordinarily, plea bargaining is made during the pre-trial stage of the proceedings. Sections 1 and 2, Rule 118 of the Rules of Court, require plea bargaining to be considered by the trial court at the pre-trial conference. But it may also be made during the trial proper and even after the prosecution has finished presenting its evidence and rested its case (Daan v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. Nos. 163972-77, March 28, 2008).

● If the accused moved to plead guilty to a lesser offense subsequent to a bail hearing or after the prosecution rested its case, the rules allow such a plea only when the prosecution does not have sufficient evidence to establish the guilt of the crime charged. The only basis on which the prosecutor and the court could rightfully act in allowing change in the former plea of not guilty could be nothing more and nothing less than the evidence on record. As soon as the prosecutor has submitted a comment whether for or against said motion, it behooves the trial court to assiduously study the prosecution's evidence as well as all the circumstances upon which the accused made his change of plea to the end that the interests of justice and of the public will be served. The ruling on the motion must disclose the strength or weakness of the prosecution's evidence. Absent any finding on the weight of the evidence on hand, the judge's acceptance of the defendant's change of plea is improper and irregular (Estipona v. Lobrigo, G.R. No. 226679, August 15, 2017).