REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
NATIONAL PROSECUTION SERVICE
OFFICE OF THE CITY PROSECUTOR
__________ CITY

_____________________________,
Complainant,

- versus - NPS No. ________________

For: Violation of R.A. No. 9262

____________________________,
Respondent.

x------------------------------------------------x

COMPLAINT-AFFIDAVIT

I, ____________________________ (“Complainant”), Filipino, of

legal age, with residence at ____________________________, after having
been duly sworn in accordance with law, do hereby depose and state that:

1. Respondent ____________________________
(“Respondent”), is Filipino, of legal age, and with address at
____________________________, where he may be served with subpoena
and other legal processes.

2. Complainant and Respondent were married on

____________________________. They have
____________________________ children, namely: (i)
____________________________, born on
____________________________; (ii) ____________________________,
born on ____________________________; (iii)
____________________________, born on
____________________________; and (iv)
____________________________ born, on
____________________________.

Copies of the marriage certificate of Complainant and Respondent,

and Certificates of Live Birth of their children are attached as Annexes “A”,
“B”, “C”, “D”, and “E”, respectively.

3. Complainant is currently employed as

___________________________ of ____________________________.
Respondent works at ____________________________ as a
___________________________. He is currently assigned in the
Philippines, but he was previously detailed in
____________________________. Complainant and the children resided in
the Philippines while the Respondent worked as an expat in
____________________________.

4. Complainant and Respondent separated in fact in

____________________________ when Respondent left the Complainant
and her children for another woman. They reconciled in
____________________________ but Respondent’s history of marital
infidelity during their ____________________________ years of marriage
has caused Complainant mental and emotional anguish during the years of
their marriage.

5. The most recent marital infidelity of the

Respondent only served to compound Complainant’s mental and emotional
anguish.

5.1. While on assignment in

____________________________ sometime
____________________________, the Complainant and
Respondent’s friend advised the former to visit her husband more
often. Complainant dismissed the advice at the time despite her
suspicion that the Respondent could be having an affair.

5.2. Complainant confirmed her suspicion about

Respondent’s marital infidelity after the same friend who previously
advised her to visit ____________________________ more often,
told her that Respondent did have an affair.

5.3. In a recent meeting with their daughters,

Respondent admitted to having a female “special friend” whom the
Respondent spent the _________ holidays with. Respondent even
showed his daughters photos of Respondent and the female “special
friend” in ____________________________. Respondent even
discussed with his daughters the idea of getting remarried and the
Complainant and Respondent’s children having half siblings.

A copy of the Joint Affidavit of

____________________________ is attached as Annex “F”.

5.4. Following the recent meeting with their daughters,

the Complainant conducted an internet search on the Respondent.

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 Complainant found a congratulatory message in
____________________________ which confirmed that Respondent
is having an affair with a ____________________________ woman
named ____________________________whom Respondent appeared
to have married.

5.5. The message was posted on the Facebook page of

____________________ in ____________________________which
specializes in supplying flowers for wedding ceremonies. The
congratulatory message reads, ____________________________.

Copies of the printed screenshot of the search showing the

congratulatory message is attached as Annexes “G” and “G-1”.

5.6. Further internet browsing of the Facebook posts of

the florist showed photos of what appear to be the venue of a wedding
ceremony between the Respondent and
____________________________.

[Photos inserted here]

5.7. These photos were publicly posted and available

for anyone and everyone to view at this link:
___________________________.

Copies of the printed screenshots of the Facebook posts are

attached as Annexes “H”, “I”, and “J”.

6. Complainant’s discovery of Respondent’s affair

with the Woman has caused Complainant psychological abuse as defined
under Section 3 of Republic Act No. 9262 (“R.A. No. 9262”), otherwise
known as the Violence Against Women and Children Act (“VAWC”):

Sec. 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act, (a) "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,

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 battery, assault, coercion, harassment or arbitrary deprivation of
liberty. It includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:

xxxx

C. "Psychological violence" refers to acts or omissions causing

or likely to cause mental or emotional suffering of the victim
such as but not limited to intimidation, harassment, stalking,
damage to property, public ridicule or humiliation, repeated
verbal abuse and marital infidelity. It includes causing or
allowing the victim to witness the physical, sexual or
psychological abuse of a member of the family to which the
victim belongs, or to witness pornography in any form or to
witness abusive injury to pets or to unlawful or unwanted
deprivation of the right to custody and/or visitation of common
children. (Emphasis supplied)

7. In AAA v. BBB,1 the Supreme Court, citing

Dinamling v. People, enumerated the elements of psychological violence
under Section 5(i) of R.A. No. 9262:

As jurisdiction of a court over the criminal case is determined

by the allegations in the complaint or information, threshing out
the essential elements of psychological abuse under R.A. No.
9262 is crucial. In Dinamling v. People, this Court already had
occasion to enumerate the elements of psychological violence
under Section 5(i) of R.A. No. 9262, as follows:

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
or access to the woman's child/children.

From the aforequoted Section 5(i), in relation to other

sections of R.A. No. 9262, the elements of the crime are
derived as follows:

1
G.R. No. 212448, 11 January 2018.

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 (1) The offended party is a woman and/or her child or
children;

(2) The woman is either the wife or former wife of the

offender, or is a woman with whom the offender has or
had a sexual or dating relationship, or is a woman with
whom such offender has a common child. As for the
woman's child or children, they may be legitimate or
illegitimate, or living within or without the family abode;

(3) The offender causes on the woman and/or child

mental or emotional anguish; and

(4) The anguish is caused through acts of public ridicule

or humiliation, repeated verbal and emotional abuse,
denial of financial support or custody of minor children
or access to the children or similar such acts or
omissions.

xxxx

It bears emphasis that Section 5(i) penalizes some forms

of psychological violence that are inflicted on victims
who are women and children. Other forms of
psychological violence, as well as physical, sexual and
economic violence, are addressed and penalized in other
subparts of Section 5.

xxxx

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. To
establish psychological violence as an element of the crime, it is
necessary to show proof of commission of any of the acts
enumerated in Section 5(i) or similar such acts. And to establish
mental or emotional anguish, it is necessary to present the
testimony of the victim as such experiences are personal to this
party. x x x. (Citations omitted and emphasis ours)

Contrary to the interpretation of the RTC, what R.A. No. 9262

criminalizes is not the marital infidelity per se but the
psychological violence causing mental or emotional suffering
on the wife. Otherwise stated, it is the violence inflicted under
the said circumstances that the law seeks to outlaw. Marital

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infidelity as cited in the law is only one of the various acts by
which psychological violence may be committed. Moreover,
depending on the circumstances of the spouses and for a myriad
of reasons, the illicit relationship may or may not even be
causing mental or emotional anguish on the wife. Thus, the
mental or emotional suffering of the victim is an essential and
distinct element in the commission of the offense.

8. All the foregoing elements are present in this case.

8.1. The first element is present. Complainant is a

woman.

8.2. The second element is present. Complainant is the

wife of Respondent.

8.3. The third element is present. Respondent caused

Complainant unspeakable mental anguish and psychological pain.

8.3.1. Complainant felt so anxious and worried about the

effect of Respondent’s admission of having an affair to her
daughters. Like any mother, she wanted to protect her children
from such harsh truth that they had to hear from Respondent,
their father, himself.

8.3.2. Complainant felt so betrayed by Respondent, who

has been her husband for ___ years. The feeling of betrayal was
coupled with embarrassment and humiliation. Complainant felt
mortified of how her situation would be perceived by their
relatives knowing that her husband, the Respondent, has
married another woman. Complainant felt so embarrassed of
the situation that she felt the need to hide the situation and
isolate herself from her relatives and friends. To her utter shock
and humiliation, Complainant learned from
_________________ that her ________________ had seen the
photos of the wedding and told her other siblings about it.

8.3.3. Complainant is equally embarrassed and worried

of how her colleagues judge her for Respondent’s continuous
and incessant marital infidelity. She feels constant fear and
serious anxiety of how Respondent’s transgressions pull focus
away from the value she brings to her organization
professionally and direct such focus to her professional life. In
one occasion, ___________________________. Complainant
dreads the negative impression at
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 ___________________________ since she has to do well at
work to be able to take care of her family’s needs.

8.4. The fourth element is present. Complainant’s

mental and emotional suffering was caused by Respondent’s marital
infidelity and his brazen admission to their children.

9. Finally, this Honorable Office has jurisdiction over

the Complaint, even as Respondent committed the marital infidelity
outside the Philippines, considering the mental anguish has been
experienced by Complainant in her residence in
___________________________. This was explained by the Supreme
Court in AAA v. BBB:2

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; it being
understood that the first court taking cognizance of the same
excludes the other. Thus, a person charged with a continuing or
transitory crime may be validly tried in any municipality or
territory where the offense was in part committed.

It is necessary, for Philippine courts to have jurisdiction

when the abusive conduct or act of violence under Section
5(i) of R.A. No. 9262 in relation to Section 3(a), Paragraph
(C) was committed outside Philippine territory, that the
victim be a resident of the place where the complaint is filed
in view of the anguish suffered being a material element of
the offense. In the present scenario, the offended wife and
children of respondent husband are residents of Pasig City since
March of 2010. Hence, the RTC of Pasig City may exercise
jurisdiction over the case. (Emphasis supplied)

10. Given the foregoing and the attached supporting

documents, it is clear that there is sufficient ground to engender a well-
founded belief that Respondent committed psychological abuse of the
Complainant which is a violation of R.A. No. 9262.

2
Id.

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 11. I am executing this Complaint-Affidavit to attest to
the truth of the foregoing and to charge Respondent with the crime of
violation of R.A. No. 9262.

12. I respectfully reserve the right to supplement this

Complaint-Affidavit to submit corroborating affidavits and other documents
as may be necessary during the proceedings.

13. I reserve further the right to pursue other remedies

available under the law, including but not limited to, a separate civil action.

IN WITNESS HEREOF, I hereby sign this

___________________________.

___________________________
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this

___________________________in ___________________________.

___________________________
Prosecutor

CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that I have personally examined the affiant and that I
am satisfied that she voluntarily executed and understood the foregoing
affidavit.

___________________________
Prosecutor