Dear PAO,
My husband and I have been married since 2000. After five years of marriage, he became distant and started coming home late. An old classmate told me that he has another family. When I confronted him, he did not deny it and even told me that he wanted to have our marriage annulled. Because of what happened, I experienced trauma, depression, and severe emotional suffering. Can my husband be held liable under the Anti-VAWC Law?
Imida
Dear Imida,
In the recent case of XXX v. People of the Philippines (GR 268619, Jan. 13, 2026), the Supreme Court, speaking through Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier, reiterated that marital infidelity, by itself, is not punishable under Republic Act (RA) 9262, otherwise known as the “Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004” (Anti-VAWC Act). What the law seeks to punish is the psychological violence resulting from such infidelity when it causes mental or emotional suffering to the wife.
In the same case, the high court emphasized that “Republic Act No. 9262 is a landmark legislation meant to equalize the gender-based power imbalance that exists between men and women, recognizing that violence against women is a form of men’s expression of control over women to retain the power in the relationship. It aims to address the discrimination brought about by biases and prejudices against women, by recognizing and penalizing all forms of abuse that may be committed against them. One form of domestic violence punished by Republic Act No. 9262 is psychological violence committed through marital infidelity, which not only transgresses the matrimonial vows of faithfulness and commitment, but inflicts inconceivable psychological and emotional harm upon the aggrieved spouse and their children.”
This doctrine is consistent with the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling in XXX v. People (GR 252739, April 16, 2024), where the high court, speaking through Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, clarified that what RA 9262 criminalizes is not marital infidelity per se, but the psychological violence that causes mental or emotional suffering to the wife.
Otherwise stated, it is the violence inflicted under the circumstances contemplated by the law, and not the act of infidelity itself, that the statute seeks to prohibit and penalize. Marital infidelity is merely one of the various acts through which psychological violence may be committed. Depending upon the circumstances of the spouses and the nature of the illicit relationship, the infidelity may or may not cause mental or emotional anguish to the wife. Thus, the existence of mental or emotional suffering is an essential and distinct element of the offense that must be established.
Accordingly, in your case, if you are able to establish that your husband’s infidelity caused you mental or emotional suffering, you may file a case for psychological violence under the Anti-VAWC Law. It bears emphasis, however, that the mere fact of marital infidelity does not, by itself, automatically constitute a violation of RA 9262; the resulting mental or emotional suffering and its causal connection to the acts complained of must likewise be sufficiently established.
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice was solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.
Thank you for your continued trust and support.
Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net
