XXX vs. People of the Philippines

A person may be convicted of psychological violence under Section 5(i) of R.A. 9262 based on acts of marital infidelity, cohabitation, and abandonment that cause mental or emotional anguish, even if the Information primarily alleges a different act like denial of financial support, provided the accused is sufficiently informed of the nature of the accusation.

Petitioner XXX was married to AAA, with whom he had a child, BBB. In 2015, while AAA was working abroad, she discovered that petitioner was in a romantic relationship with another woman, CCC, who was pregnant with petitioner's child. Petitioner and CCC sent spiteful text messages to AAA and later cohabited in the family's hometown. AAA subsequently retrieved BBB from petitioner's custody. Petitioner was charged with violating Section 5(i) of R.A. 9262 for depriving AAA and BBB of financial support and abandoning them, causing psychological and emotional anguish.

• Nature of the Case: Petitioner was charged with violating Section 5(i) of R.A. 9262 for "willfully, unlawfully, feloniously depriv[ing] his minor child of financial support legally due to the complainant and to her minor child and abandoning them totally, causing psychological and emotional anguish."
• Prosecution's Version: Petitioner and AAA were married in 2006. In 2015, while AAA was working abroad, petitioner engaged in a relationship with CCC, who became pregnant. Petitioner and CCC sent taunting messages to AAA, detailing their intimacy and mocking AAA's marital status. They later cohabited. AAA testified this caused her anguish. Their child, BBB (9 years old at trial), testified tearfully about her father's infidelity and her desire for her parents to reconcile.
• Defense's Version: Petitioner claimed he had custody and cared for BBB until AAA forcibly took her in October 2015. He admitted stopping financial support after that because AAA prevented him from seeing the child. He initially denied knowing CCC but later admitted they were schoolmates.
• Lower Court Findings: The RTC found petitioner guilty of inflicting psychological violence through emotional and psychological abandonment. The CA affirmed, ruling that the Information charged abandonment in addition to denial of support, and that the evidence proved petitioner's marital infidelity and abandonment caused mental or emotional anguish.

• Scope of the Information: Petitioner argued that the Information exclusively charged economic abuse (denial of financial support), not psychological violence. Convicting him based on psychological violence violated his constitutional right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.
• Custody and Support: Petitioner maintained that it was AAA who alienated the child from him and that he had been the primary caregiver. He contended that his cessation of support was a consequence of AAA's act of taking custody, not a willful denial.
• Insufficiency of Evidence: Petitioner asserted that the prosecution's evidence was insufficient to support a conviction for the crime charged.

• Breadth of the Information: The Office of the Solicitor General countered that the Information charged not only deprivation of financial support but also "abandoning them totally," which subsumes psychological violence.
• Evidence of Psychological Violence: Respondent argued that the prosecution clearly established petitioner's acts of marital infidelity, cohabitation, and abandonment, which constitute psychological violence under R.A. 9262 and caused mental and emotional anguish to AAA and BBB.

• Sufficiency of the Information: Whether the conviction for psychological violence under Section 5(i) of R.A. 9262 is valid despite the Information primarily alleging deprivation of financial support.
• Commission of the Crime: Whether the petitioner's acts constitute the psychological violence and cause the mental or emotional anguish required for a conviction under Section 5(i) of R.A. 9262.

• Sufficiency of the Information: The conviction is valid. The Information's allegation of "abandoning them totally" is an act of omission that can be considered psychological violence under the catch-all phrase "similar acts or omissions" in Section 5(i). The evidence presented at trial (marital infidelity, cohabitation, abandonment) was encompassed by the charge and sufficiently informed the petitioner of the nature of the accusation.
• Commission of the Crime: The petitioner's acts constitute psychological violence. Marital infidelity is explicitly listed as a form of psychological violence under Section 3(c) of R.A. 9262. The prosecution proved through the victims' testimonies that petitioner's infidelity, cohabitation, and abandonment caused them mental and emotional anguish, satisfying the elements of the offense.

• Elements of Psychological Violence under R.A. 9262, Sec. 5(i) — The crime has four elements: (1) the offended party is a woman and/or her child; (2) the woman is the wife, former wife, or has a sexual/dating relationship with the offender, or has a common child with him; (3) the offender causes mental or emotional anguish; and (4) the anguish is caused through acts like public ridicule, repeated verbal abuse, denial of support/custody, or similar acts or omissions. Psychological violence is the means, and mental/emotional anguish is the effect. Proof of the victim's testimony is sufficient to establish anguish.
• Marital Infidelity as Psychological Violence — Under Section 3(c) of R.A. 9262, "psychological violence" includes acts causing mental or emotional suffering, such as "marital infidelity." The law does not require the victim to become psychologically ill; proof of emotional anguish or mental suffering is sufficient.

• "Psychological violence is an element of violation of Section 5(i) just like the mental or emotional anguish caused on the victim. Psychological violence is the means employed by the perpetrator, while mental or emotional anguish is the effect caused to or the damage sustained by the offended party." — Articulates the distinct but related elements of the crime.
• "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." — Applies the statutory definition to the facts.

• Dinamling v. People, 761 Phil. 356 (2015) — Cited as controlling precedent that enumerates and explains the elements of a violation of Section 5(i) of R.A. 9262.
• Reyes v. People, G.R. No. 232678, July 3, 2019 — Cited for the principle that conviction requires proof of psychological violence as the means and mental/emotional anguish as the effect.
• Araza v. People, G.R. No. 247429, September 8, 2020 — Cited for the rule that the victim's testimony in court narrating their experience is sufficient to establish emotional anguish or mental suffering.

• Section 5(i), Republic Act No. 9262 — Penalizes causing mental or emotional anguish to a woman or her child through acts including, but not limited to, denial of financial support or custody, or similar acts or omissions.
• Section 3(c), Republic Act No. 9262 — Defines "psychological violence" to include acts or omissions causing mental or emotional suffering, such as "marital infidelity."
• Section 6, Republic Act No. 9262 — Provides the penalty of prision mayor and a fine for violations of Section 5(i).

Gesmundo, C.J. (Chairperson), Gaerlan, Rosario, and Marquez, JJ.