MANILA — Marital infidelity by itself is not punishable under Republic Act No. 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 (Anti-VAWC Act), the Supreme Court said, clarifying that the law penalizes psychological violence that causes mental or emotional suffering to a wife.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, the Supreme Court’s Second Division affirmed the conviction of a husband for violating Section 5(i) of the Anti-VAWC Act.

The couple married in 1999 and had two children. Their marital problems began in 2009 after the husband started coming home late and became distant from his family.

In January 2010, the husband sent his wife text messages saying he would no longer return home, wanted to start a new life alone, and intended to seek the nullity of their marriage.

The wife later discovered that her husband was living with another woman. Her brother and a private investigator surveilled the husband and found that he and the other woman repeatedly went to and left the same house. Other witnesses also informed the wife about their relationship.

The husband was subsequently charged with psychological violence before the Regional Trial Court (RTC).

During the trial, the wife testified that her husband’s actions caused her severe mental and emotional suffering, as well as loss of self-esteem and dignity. She said she experienced depression and attempted to take her own life several times.

A psychologist who evaluated the wife found signs of depression, including feelings of inferiority, sleep problems, difficulty concentrating, and problems relating with others. The psychologist linked these difficulties to her conflict with her husband and his abandonment of the family for another woman.

The couple’s son also testified that he saw his mother crying and depressed for more than two years after his father left the family.

Both the RTC and the Court of Appeals found the husband guilty.

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, explaining that an extramarital relationship may or may not cause mental or emotional anguish, depending on the circumstances. While infidelity may be one of the acts through which psychological violence is committed, the resulting mental or emotional suffering must still be established by evidence.

In this case, the Court found that the wife’s testimony, psychological evaluation, and other witness accounts sufficiently demonstrated that her husband’s acts caused her mental and emotional suffering.

“All these pieces of evidence vividly paint a single picture: the intense and unbearable pain that [the wife] contended with for years as a result of [the husband’s] abandonment and infidelity,” the Court said.

The Supreme Court also rejected the husband’s reliance on his acquittal in a separate concubinage case, saying this did not affect his liability under the Anti-VAWC Act.

The Court explained that concubinage and psychological violence under the Anti-VAWC Act are separate offenses with different elements and requirements.

The husband was sentenced to up to eight years in prison and ordered to pay a PHP 100,000 fine and PHP 30,000 in moral damages to his wife. He was also directed to undergo mandatory psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment.

In a dissenting opinion, Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen agreed that infidelity alone does not constitute psychological violence under the Anti-VAWC Act but said the prosecution failed to sufficiently establish that the husband deliberately inflicted mental or emotional anguish on his wife.

Leonen therefore found the evidence insufficient to sustain the conviction.