Dear PAO,  

I am currently living with my partner, who is still married to his wife. Our relationship started sometime in 2017. At the beginning of our relationship, my partner was very sweet and caring. However, everything changed after I gave birth to our son. He started verbally and physically abusing me. Can I still file a case against him under Republic Act 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act, despite the fact that we are in an illicit relationship?    

Abi

Dear Abi,  

Yes, you may still file a case against your live-in partner despite the fact that you are engaged in an illicit relationship.

Under Republic Act 9262 (RA 9262), or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004, violence against women and their children refers to:  

“Any act or a series of acts committed by any person against a woman who is his wife, former wife, or against a woman with whom the person has or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a common child, or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, within or without the family abode, which result in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harassment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty.”  

The gravamen of RA 9262 is the protection of abused women and their children against the perpetrator with whom she has or had a dating or sexual relationship. The law also protects the woman’s children, regardless of whether they are legitimate or illegitimate. Simply put, the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act covers dating partners, sexual partners, live-in partners, ex-boyfriends, women in lesbian relationships, and partners who have a common child. The law punishes not only physical abuse but also sexual violence, verbal abuse, psychological abuse, and economic abuse.

As further ratiocinated by the Supreme Court in XXX vs. AAA, BBB and Minor CCC, GR 187175, July 6, 2022, Ponente: Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen:

“(T)he law protects women and their children from various forms of violence and abuse committed within a setting of an intimate relationship.”  

In your case, you are well within the coverage of RA 9262 since you are living with your partner with whom you have a son. RA 9262 does not discriminate and does not provide a limitation as to the applicability of the law to women in illicit relationships. The law will not turn a blind eye in protecting you against the abuse that you are enduring simply because you are in a relationship with a married person. As the legal maxim goes, where the law does not distinguish, the courts should not distinguish. Thus, you may file a case against your partner for violating RA 9262.    

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

Thank you for your continued 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]