clerk of the Court of First Instance shall docket the appeal in that court. A perfected appeal shall operate to vacate the judgment of the municipal court, and the action, when duly entered in the  Court of First Instance, shall stand for trial  de novo  upon its merits in accordance with the regular procedure in that court, as though the same had never been tried and had been originally there commenced. Pending an appeal, the defendant shall remain i n custody unless released in the discretion of the judge of the municipal court or of the judge of the Court of First Instance, upon sufficient bail, in accordance with the rules and regulations now or hereafter in force, to await the judgment of the appel late court. [183-42; 267-11; 612-4.] SECTION  2446 . Persons Arrested to be Promptly Brought before a Court — Preliminary Examinations in Municipal Court and Court of First Instance . — Every person arrested shall, without unnecessary delay, be brought before the municipal court, the justice of  the peace, or the Court of First Instance for preliminary hearing, release on bail, or trial. In cases triable in the municipal court the defendant shall not be entitled as of right to a preliminary examination, except a summary one to enable the court to f ix the bail, in any case where the prosecution announces itself ready and is ready for trial within three days, not including Sundays, after the request for a preliminary examination is presented. In cases triable only in the Court of First Instance the def endant shall not be entitled as of right to a preliminary examination in any case where the fiscal of the city, after a due investigation of the facts, shall have presented an information against him in proper form. But the Court of First Instance may ma ke such summary investigation into the case as it may deem necessary to enable it to fix the bail or to determine whether the offense is bailable. [183-14; 612-2; 1627-37.] SECTION  2447 . Compensation of Certain Expert Witnesses in Criminal Cases . — Out of any sum appropriated for contingent expenses of the law department, the judge of the municipal court, or a judge of the Court of First Instance in the city, as the case may  be, may allow compensation to physicians and surgeons, other than officers of the United States Army or Navy or officers or employees of the Insular Government or the city, summoned by the Government as expert witnesses in criminal prosecutions when the at tendance of such physicians and surgeons is necessary in the interests of justice. Such compensation shall not in any one case exceed five pesos for the testimony of the physician or surgeon so summoned, and the payment shall be made upon the certificate of  the judge presiding at the trial that the witness attended and testified, that the case is an exceptional and meritorious one, and that compensation ought to be allowed. The Copyright 2012 CD Technologies Asia, Inc. and Accesslaw, Inc. Philippine Law Encyclopedia 2011 733