G.R. No. 263449 , November 13, 2023
XXX, PETITIONER, VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, RESPONDENT.

FACTS

The petitioner was convicted for violating Section 5(i) of Republic Act No. 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act) for causing psychological violence against his wife. The lower courts anchored the conviction on the petitioner’s marital infidelity, specifically an incident in 2007 where the wife caught him kissing their househelper and the subsequent discovery in 2013 that he had a child with the same helper. The petitioner, however, argued that the separation was mutually agreed upon due to parental disapproval.
The criminal information filed against the petitioner did not specifically allege marital infidelity as the cause of psychological violence. Instead, it highlighted his acts of leaving the conjugal dwelling and abandoning his wife, which left her alone to pay their conjugal debts. The extended six-year gap between the initial incident and the discovery of the child created ambiguity regarding a continuous pattern of abusive infidelity.

ISSUE

Whether the petitioner’s conviction for psychological violence under R.A. No. 9262 should be sustained based on marital infidelity per se or on the act of abandonment.

RULING

The concurring opinion, while agreeing with the affirmance of conviction, clarifies the correct legal basis. It emphasizes that psychological violence under R.A. No. 9262 is a crime mala in se, requiring proof of criminal intent to cause mental or emotional suffering. The law does not criminalize marital infidelity per se; infidelity is merely one potential means by which psychological violence may be committed. The Court must examine the totality of circumstances to ascertain the perpetrator’s evil intent and the resulting anguish.
In this case, the nexus between the isolated act of infidelity and sustained psychological harm was tenuous. The six-year interregnum and lack of detailed context failed to establish a willful, continuous pattern intended to inflict emotional damage. Conversely, the fact of desertion was clear and directly causative. The petitioner’s abandonment of the conjugal home and his wife, leaving her to shoulder their debts alone, unequivocally constituted psychological violence. This act naturally resulted in mental and emotional suffering, fulfilling the elements of the crime. Therefore, the conviction is proper, but strictly on the ground of abandonment, not merely on marital infidelity.