THE Supreme Court has upheld that marital infidelity is considered psychological violence under Republic Act No. 9262, also known as the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004.
The high court affirmed the conviction of a husband, Pedro (real name withheld by the court), who violated RA 9262 by cohabiting with another woman and impregnating her while his wife was working abroad.
The Court of Appeals (CA) had previously affirmed Pedro’s conviction, which was based on Section 5(i) of the Anti-VAWC Act.
The said section specifies that violence against women and their children is committed by causing mental or emotional anguish, public ridicule or humiliation, denial of financial support or custody of minor children, or similar acts or omissions.
The SC agreed with the lower courts that all the necessary elements to establish a violation of Section 5(i) were present in Pedro’s case.
The elements are: 1) the victim is a woman and/or her child or children; 2) the woman is either the wife or former wife of the offender; 3) the offender causes mental or emotional anguish on the woman and/or child; and 4) the anguish is caused through acts of public ridicule or humiliation, repeated verbal and emotional abuse, denial of financial support or custody of minor children, access to the children, or similar acts or omissions.
According to court records, Pedro and Maria (name withheld by the court) were married in 2006 and had a daughter.
In 2015, Maria discovered that Pedro was in a romantic relationship with another woman, Lucy (real name withheld by the court), who was pregnant with Pedro’s child.
Pedro was charged with violating Section 5(i) of RA 9262 in 2016 and was found guilty by the trial court. Pedro appealed to the CA, but his petition was denied.
The CA ruled that the criminal information charged Pedro not only with deprivation of financial support to his child with Maria but also with the act of abandoning his family, which may be considered as having been subsumed in the phrase “similar acts or omissions” mentioned under Section 5(i) of RA 9262.
Although the prosecution was not able to establish that Pedro denied financial support to his family, the prosecution was able to show that he abandoned them, causing them mental or emotional anguish.
According to the SC, there are several forms of abuse, including physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, and economic abuse.
In this case, the prosecution was able to establish Pedro’s marital infidelity, cohabitation with Lucy, and abandonment of Maria, all of which caused mental or emotional anguish. The Court thus affirmed Pedro’s conviction under Section 5(i) of RA 9262.
