Dear PAO,
My husband works as OFW in Riyadh. He’s been there for three years. I recently discovered that he has a mistress there and lives with her. Can I sue my husband for adultery even if the act is committed abroad?
surname
Dear Vanni,
In principle, only crimes committed in our country fall under our criminal laws. As such, you cannot bring a cohabitation case under Article 334 of the Revised Criminal Code against your husband if you consider that his cohabitation with his alleged mistress was abroad. However, if your husband’s actions have caused you mental or emotional distress, you can file a case for violating Republic Act 9262, also known as the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004 (VAWC). Paragraph 3 states:
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“Section 3 – As used in this Act, xxx
“1. ‘Psychological violence’ refers to acts or omissions that cause or are likely to cause psychological or emotional suffering in the victim, such as infidelity. This includes the victim witnessing the physical, sexual, or psychological abuse of a family member of whom the victim is a member, or witnessing pornography in any form, or abusive pet harm, or unlawful or unwanted deprivation of custody and/or visitation rights for common ones Children.”
Based on the above law, repeated infidelity in marriage can be considered a form of psychological violence. In AAA v BBB, GR 212448, January 11, 2018, the Supreme Court, through Associate Justice Noel Tijam, ruled for the first time that a husband’s violation of the VAWC law by repeated infidelity committed abroad was in the Philippines can be prosecuted. It justified this by saying that in the case of psychological violence, the act that causes the wife mental or psychological suffering is punished. Since the woman’s suffering happened in the Philippines, local courts can take note of the case. Hence:
“Contrary to what the RTC interprets, RA No. 9262 does not criminalize spousal infidelity per se, but psychological violence that causes mental or emotional distress to the wife. In other words, it is the violence inflicted under the circumstances mentioned that the law prescribes. Marital infidelity, as it is called in the law, is just one of the various acts through which psychological violence can be committed. In addition, the illegal relationship, dependent depending on the circumstances of the spouses and for a variety of reasons, whether or not he or she causes mental distress to the wife. Therefore, the victim’s mental or emotional suffering is an essential and distinct element in the commission of the crime
“It is necessary for Philippine courts to have jurisdiction where the abusive conduct or act of violence referred to in section 5(i) of RA 9262 related to section 3(a), paragraph (C) was committed outside Philippine territory that the victim be resident at the place of the complaint, since the suffering suffered is an essential part of the offence.”
Based on the foregoing, if you have suffered psychological abuse as a result of your husband’s repeated marital infidelity abroad, you can sue him in the Philippines under the VAWC Act for psychological abuse. If your husband does not respond to the charges against him and the prosecutor finds a probable cause during the investigation and files a lawsuit in court, the judge can issue a warrant for your husband’s arrest. In such a case, if he returns to the Philippines, he may be arrested. In addition, you can ask the court to issue a travel ban to prevent him from leaving the Philippines.
We hope that we were able to answer your questions. This advice is based solely on the facts you have reported and our appreciation of them. Our opinion may differ if other facts are changed or supplemented.
Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column for the prosecution. Questions for Chief Acosta can be sent to [email protected]
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