MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the conviction of a man for committing psychological violence against his ex-girlfriend after posting derogatory statements about her on social media, ruling that such acts fall under the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children (Anti-VAWC) Act.

In a 30-page decision penned by Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, the SC’s First Division sentenced the man to up to eight years imprisonment and a fine of P100,000 for violating Section 5(i) of Republic Act No. 9262. He was also ordered to undergo psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment.

The complainant and the accused were in a relationship for three years, during which the woman became pregnant. When she refused his marriage proposal, she raised their child alone. Years later, she and her siblings received messages on Facebook Messenger from an account linked to the accused, which included threats and insults. The next day, a public post on Facebook called her a dirty woman and an animal and threatened physical harm.

The complainant filed a complaint under the Anti-VAWC Act, and a protection order was issued in her favor. During the trial, printouts of the Facebook posts were presented, along with testimony from the complainant and her siblings that the account belonged to the accused.

The accused denied ownership of the account, claiming someone else could have used his photo to create a fake account. However, the Family Court and the Court of Appeals found him guilty, citing evidence linking him to the account. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, noting that the posts caused public ridicule and met the definition of psychological violence under Section 5(i) of RA 9262.

The SC highlighted that social media platforms like Facebook allow easy account creation, which requires careful consideration when proving ownership in criminal cases. The court laid out seven guideposts to establish ownership or authorship of social media accounts, including admissions of ownership, observed access, unique information, language patterns, records from service providers, device forensic analysis, and consistency with previous posts.

The ruling underscores that derogatory social media posts against an ex-partner can constitute psychological violence under Philippine law.