PAO chief Acosta tells JBC: PHL adultery laws need to remain tougher on women

Public Attorney's Office (PAO) chief Persida Acosta is in favor of keeping the law slapping tougher penalties on women in cases of adultery despite concerns from women's groups finding it discriminatory.

Acosta, who is seeking the post of associate justice of the Supreme Court (SC), told the Judicial and Bar Council on Wednesday her opinion on the matter.

"Yung sa issue ng adultery and concubinage ang aking patakaran pa rin ay dapat mas mahigpit sa babae kesa sa lalake dahil ang babae ang ilaw ng tahanan," Acosta said when asked by JBC member Jose Mejia on which laws she believes are partial to either sex. 

"Kapag nawasak ang ang tahanan nagloko ang babae wala na. Kapag ang lalake ang nagloko, ang babae ay matatag, siya ang ilaw, buhay pa ang tahanan. So para sa akin OK lang na iyan pa rin ang batas mas mahigpit sa kababaihan sa adultery at 'di masyadong mahigpit sa concubinage," she added.  

Under Article 333 of the Revised Penal Code, a wife can be convicted of the crime of adultery for a single act of sexual intercourse with a man who is not her husband. 

If found guilty, both the married woman and her lover will suffer a prison term for a maximum period of six years. 

Article 334, meanwhile, punishes a married man for concubinage only if he is found guilty of any of the following:

• keeping a mistress in the conjugal dwelling
• having sexual intercourse under scandalous circumstances with a woman who is not his wife 
• cohabiting with her in any other place 

The penalty for the guilty husband is lower by one degree which is imprisonment for a maximum period of 4 years and 1 day only. His concubine, meanwhile, is given a separate penalty of “destierro” or banishment and not imprisonment.

A bill is currently pending in the House of Representatives seeking to decriminalize adultery and concubinage.

Filed Gabriela Representatives Emmi De Jesus and Arlene Brosas, House Bill 101 also proposes the release from jail of all persons serving sentence for both offenses, provided that they are not detained for any other crime. 

The bill noted that some women are blackmailed by their estranged husbands through Article 333. 

"In many cases, women who are faced by these threats are forced to forego legitimate custodial claims of their children while some are forced to give up their claims over conjugal properties, assets and the like," the bill stated. —JST, GMA News