The Supreme Court has upheld the conviction for violation of Republic Act No. 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004 (Anti-VAWC Act) of a man who cohabited with another woman and impregnated her while his wife was working abroad.
In a decision dated March 1, 2023 and posted by the SC April 4, the Court’s First Division, through Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, denied the petition for review on certiorari of the offender, and affirmed the Jan. 31, 2019 decision and the Oct. 18, 2019 resolution of the Court of Appeals.
The Regional Trial Court and the CA did not err in finding petitioner guilty of violating RA 9262, the SC said. “The CA correctly modified the penalty imposed upon petitioner to an indeterminate sentence of two years, four months, and a day, of prision correccional, as minimum, to eight years, and one day of prision mayor, as maximum; to pay a fine of P100,000; and to undergo psychological counseling”.
The High Court emphasized that marital infidelity is one of the forms of psychological violence, agreed with the CA and the RTC, and ruled that all the elements to establish a violation under VAWC were present.
These elements are: the offended party is a woman and/or her child or children; the woman is either the wife or former wife of the offender; the offender causes on the woman and/or child mental or emotional anguish; and 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 or access to the children or similar to such acts or omissions.
The Supreme Court held that there are several forms of abuse, the most visible form of which is physical violence. The others are sexual violence, psychological violence, and economic abuse.
It ruled that the prosecution in this case was able to satisfactorily establish the petitioner’s marital infidelity, his cohabitation with another woman who even bore him a child, and his abandonment of his wife.
The full text of G.R. No. 250219 may be found at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/250219-xxx-vs-people-of-the…/*
