G.R. No. 250219 . March 01, 2023
XXX, PETITIONER, VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, RESPONDENT.

FACTS

Petitioner XXX and AAA were married in 2006 and had a daughter, BBB. AAA worked abroad in Singapore to support the family. In 2015, AAA learned that petitioner was in a romantic relationship with another woman, CCC, who became pregnant. Petitioner and CCC sent AAA derogatory text messages. AAA returned to the Philippines and, with assistance, retrieved BBB from petitioner’s custody. BBB, then nine years old, testified about the affair and her emotional distress, stating she no longer loved her father. Petitioner was charged with violating Section 5(i) of Republic Act No. 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act) for willfully depriving AAA and BBB of financial support and totally abandoning them, causing psychological and emotional anguish. The prosecution presented evidence of the affair and its impact. The defense claimed petitioner had custody of BBB until AAA took her and that he stopped support because AAA prevented access. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) found petitioner guilty of psychological violence through emotional abandonment, sentencing him to imprisonment and a fine. The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the RTC’s Decision finding petitioner guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating Section 5(i) of RA 9262.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the CA Decision. The Court held that the Information sufficiently alleged acts constituting psychological violence under Section 5(i) of RA 9262, specifically deprivation of financial support and abandonment causing emotional anguish. While the prosecution did not fully prove deprivation of financial support, it established petitioner’s abandonment of AAA and BBB through his extramarital affair and cohabitation with CCC, which caused them mental and emotional suffering. The elements of the offense were met: AAA was the wife, and BBB was their child; petitioner’s acts constituted psychological violence; and the anguish was inflicted through his willful abandonment and marital infidelity. The Court emphasized that abandonment, as a form of psychological violence, includes emotional desertion and is not limited to physical separation. Petitioner’s conviction was thus proper based on the evidence of abandonment and the resulting psychological harm.