Dear PAO,

My husband and I were happily married in the Philippines before he left for Japan to work in January 2024. While working there, he met a fellow employee, fell in love with her, and they began living together under the same roof. Concerned employees would take photos and send them to me through my Facebook Messenger. Last May 2025, my husband arrived in the Philippines with his mistress. Can I file a complaint for concubinage and VAWC against him?

Sally

Dear Sally,

Unfortunately, the complaint for concubinage will not prosper for lack of jurisdiction because the act of cohabitation did not take place in the Philippines, but in Japan. In general, only acts committed in the Philippines are subject to our penal laws and can be prosecuted before the Philippine courts. This territoriality characteristic of our criminal law is based on Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, which states:

“Art. 2. Application of its provisions. –

“Except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential application, the provisions of this Code shall be enforced not only within the Philippines, including its atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction, against those who:

“1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship;

“2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or obligation and securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands;

“3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands of the obligations and securities mentioned in the presiding number;

“4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise of their functions; or

“5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations, defined in the Title One of Book Two of this Code.”

Considering that the act of cohabiting with his mistress — one of the ways to commit concubinage — happened in Japan, the same cannot be prosecuted or filed in our country.

However, the case for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9262, otherwise known as the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 (VAWC), may prosper even though the infidelity of your husband happened abroad. Section 5 (i) of RA 9262 states that the crime of violence against women and their children is committed by:

“SECTION 5. Acts of Violence Against Women and Their Children.- The crime of violence against women and their children is committed through any of the following acts: xxx

“(i) Causing mental or emotional anguish, public ridicule or humiliation to the woman or her child, including, but not limited to, repeated verbal and emotional abuse, and denial of financial support or custody of minor children of access to the woman’s child/children.”

In the case of XXX v. People of the Philippines (GR 250219, March 1, 2023), the Supreme Court, speaking through Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, explained that:

“Marital infidelity is one of the forms of psychological violence. The prosecution in this case was able to satisfactorily establish petitioner’s marital infidelity, his cohabitation with CCC who even bore him a child, and his abandonment of AAA. BBB’s psychological trauma was evident when she wept in open court upon being asked to narrate petitioner’s infidelity. In particular, BBB explained that she was deeply hurt because her father had another family and loved another woman other than her mother, BBB.”

Likewise, the Supreme Court held in the case of AAA v. BBB (GR 212448, Jan. 11, 2018), penned by Associate Justice Noel Tijam, that Section 7 of RA 9262 contemplates that acts of violence against women and their children may manifest as transitory or continuing crimes, viz.:

“What may be gleaned from Section 7 of R.A. No. 9262 is that the law contemplates that acts of violence against women and their children may manifest as transitory or continuing crimes; meaning that some acts material and essential thereto and requisite in their consummation occur in one municipality or territory, while some occur in another. In such cases, the court wherein any of the crime’s essential and material acts have been committed maintains jurisdiction to try the case.”

In your case, under RA 9262, even if your husband committed the act of cohabitation in Japan, but such act caused you psychological violence while you are here in the Philippines, a complaint may still be filed in our courts as one of the elements, that is, the psychological harm caused to the victim, occurred in our country. Therefore, if you suffered psychological abuse due to your husband’s marital infidelity while he was in Japan, you may still file a case against your husband for violation of RA 9262.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

We appreciate your trust and support.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]