“The court said the facts qualifying the delinquent person’s act of denial or deprivation of financial support must be proven.”
The fact alone that “the accused failed to provide financial support… is not punishable under R.A. No. 9262. The normal remedy of a person deprived of financial support is to file a civil case for support against the delinquent person consistent with the provisions of the New Civil Code and the Family Code” (XXX v. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 255877, March 29, 2023).
“[F]or criminal liability to arise out of such failure to give support, the facts qualifying the delinquent person’s act of denial or deprivation of financial support must be proven.” Besides, “the obligation to provide support is imposed by the law mutually upon both spouses… [and] is not a one-way street for the husband to support his wife [because] the wife has the identical obligation to provide support to her husband” (G.R. No. 255877, March 29, 2023).
In the case of XXX v. People of the Philippines, “AAA testified that she and XXX were married on October 14, 2002… and lived together until 2004 [before] XXX left the country to work as a seafarer…” “[H]e initially remitted part of his monthly salary to her but stopped after a few months” when she refused to live with his parents in Antique (G.R. No. 255877, March 29, 2023).
“For the next 13 years, he failed to… [give] her support which caused her extreme pain and humiliation. She had a sari-sari store but it eventually became bankrupt so she was forced to support herself by earning a living as a freelance massage therapist.”
According to XXX, “he had to request his employer to stop making the remittances in 2004 because his parents became sick with cancer. He did not inform AAA that he would stop the remittances because he was traumatized from their frequent fights.”
“[XXX] returned to the country in 2007 and worked as an instructor at the Southern Institute of Maritime in the Philippines. Nevertheless, he did not contact AAA or send her support because he was only forced to marry her.”
AAA sued XXX for violation of Section 5(i) or R.A. No. 9262 otherwise known as the “Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act of 2004” by committing psychological violence and economic abuse upon her. AAA further claimed that by abandoning her and denying her financial support “she suffered substantial mental or emotional anguish, public ridicule or humiliation.”
The Regional Trial Court (RTC) convicted XXX for violation of Section 5(i) or R.A. No. 9262 due to his denial of financial support to AAA. The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the conviction of XXX due to his “unilateral decision to stop providing AAA’s financial support… [which] undeniably caused her pain and psychological suffering.”
The CA further said that “[e]ven if XXX claimed that he was only forced to marry AAA, he still had the marital obligation to render love and support to her. XXX’s [admission] ‘that he deliberately stopped giving financial support to [AAA]… by itself, [is] already an act of economic abuse.’”
“[The landmark case of Acharon v. People clarified] that the commission of this crime through ‘denial of financial support’ is mala in se and thus requires the presence of criminal intent. The mere failure to provide financial support is insufficient to support a conviction… [because] [i]t must be proven that the accused willfully and consciously denied financial support legally due to the woman…” (G.R. No. 255877, March 29, 2023).
“The Supreme Court stressed in Acharon that Section 5 (i) of R.A. 9262 uses the phrase ‘denial of financial support’ in defining the criminal act. The word ‘denial’ is defined as ‘refusal to satisfy a request or desire’ or ‘the act of not allowing someone to do or have something’” (G.R. No. 255877, March 29, 2023).
“The foregoing definitions connote willfulness, or an active exertion of effort so that one would not be able to have or do something. This may be contrasted with the word ‘failure’, defined as ‘the fact of not doing something [one] should have done,’ which in turn connotes passivity (G.R. No. 255877, March 29, 2023).
“[T]herefore, for the woman to experience mental or emotional anguish, or for her partner to deny financial support that is legally due her.” “[T]here must… be evidence on record that the accused willfully or consciously withheld financial support legally due the woman for the purpose of inflicting mental or emotional anguish upon her” (G.R. No. 255877, March 29, 2023).
“This means that the mere failure or one’s inability to provide financial support is not sufficient to rise to the level of criminality under Section 5 (i), even if mental or emotional anguish is experienced by the woman.” Hence, if “the accused merely failed or was unable to provide support, then criminal liability would not arise.”
“It is clear… that XXX had a reason why he stopped sending financial support to AAA [that was when his parents became sick with lung cancer and liver cancer]. The prosecution did not deny this fact and merely insisted that his failure to provide financial support was already sufficient to consummate the crime.”
Finally, “[i]f she truly needed financial support, it is only expected based on human experience that she would have at least exerted efforts to obtain it. The fact that she did not do anything whatsoever to get support prior to filing this criminal case casts serious doubt on her claim that she needed it” (G.R. No. 255877, March 29, 2023).
