Lorono, Jerry Mae I.

Legal Research - B

Battered Women Syndrome, as a justifying circumstance, must be

strengthened in the Philippines.

Juan and Maria are spouses. Their first years together were filled with
love, but afterwards, they experience financial difficulties which caused Juan
to turn to drinking. Maria nagged Juan for the household bills and blamed his
drinking habits. Juan started to physically abuse Maria. Maria forgave it the
first time thinking that may be her husband is tired from work. But Juan
continued to do his vice, and Maria again forgave him. This went on for five
more years and Maria found herself stuck with her husband because she does
not want their children to lose a father and she believes that one day Juan will
come to realize his wrongdoings.

Another five years passed and the beatings became more severe that Maria
had to seek medical help for treatment. Maria now feared for her life and for
her children, but she could not leave her husband because she knew that
when he finds out about her plan to leave, she and her children will be hurt
more. One day, Juan came home as usual, drunk and started to severely beat
Maria with a pipe. After Maria laid half-consciously on the floor, Juan stopped
the beating and went on to eat in the kitchen. Maria, in fear of her own and
their children’s lives, took the pipe and hit Juan who was turning his back. The
blow caused a fatal injury in the head and Juan died. Can Maria be justified for
committing parricide?

Jurisprudence provides that for the battered woman to claim a justifying

circumstance on the ground of self-defense and defense of their children, the
three requisites must still be present at the time of the commission of the
crime1. There must be unlawful aggression on the part of the attacker,
reasonable necessity of the means to suppress the evil, and lack of
provocation on the part of the one defending2. Maria cannot be justified in
killing Juan because the unlawful aggression no longer existed at the time she
committed the crime. However, other opinions argue that there was indeed
unlawful aggression in the form of a cycle of violence which culminated into
the fatal physical assault, even if the husband did not actually employ violence
at the time of the killing3.

This same old story is happening in many areas of the Philippines.

Filipino culture upholds family-centeredness that people almost always
considers their family in every decision that they make. Although the country
takes pride in the significance that the people put in family, the same can lead
to unfavorable effects some even very disturbing. Domestic violence has
become so widespread that in 2017 one in four or 26 percent of ever-married
Filipino women aged 15 – 49 have experienced physical, sexual or emotional
violence by their husband or partner4. Furthermore, 20 percent of these

1
People v. Genosa, G.R. No. 135981, Jan. 15, 2004
2
Revised Penal Code, Article 13
3
People v. Genosa, G.R. No. 135981, Jan. 15, 2004 (Ynares-Santiago, C., dissenting)
4
National Demographic and Health Survey, PSA, (2017)
women have experienced emotional violence, 14 percent have experienced
physical violence while 5 percent have experienced sexual violence by their
husband or partner5. Cases of domestic violence against women remain high
although there have been various laws passed to ensure women’s rights
against domestic violence6.

Implementing these laws still face many challenges nonetheless,

Filipinos need to be reminded to strengthen the advocacies to suppress this
evil. There are indicators that need to be considered on why the Philippines
need to continue to exert greater efforts for BWS to be considered not only a
mitigating, but a justifying circumstance. First, most Filipino families belong to
the low and middle class, and statistics show that most spousal bickering
resulting to abuse stem from financial difficulties. Second, the children will be
deprived even more of a normal family life and it can affect them emotionally
and psychologically, notwithstanding that there will be no one to provide for
the daily needs if the mother is in prison. And lastly, Battered Women
Syndrome, as a psychological condition, is a real condition testified to by
experts and thus, the public must be more aware of its existence so we can
lessen the stigma.

According to PSA, poverty incidence remains at 16.1 percent as of the first

semester of 20187. 21 percent of the total population still lives below the
poverty line8. Although as compared to previous years, these statistics have
gradually decreased, there remains a substantial portion of the population
that is living in poor conditions. Not surprisingly, this information has a direct
relationship with the incidence of violence in the country. Most spousal
bickering resulting to abuse stem from financial difficulties as 24 percent from
the bottom economic classes reported physical abuse compared to 15 percent
in the top brackets9. Maria and Juan were living happily until they had bills to
pay more than their income. As strong as the family ties might be, financial
issues undoubtedly pose a great threat to the family’s well-being. As long as
the poverty rates remain high, incidences of spousal bickering resulting to
domestic violence would most probably too.

Secondly, the children will be deprived even more of a normal family life
affecting them emotionally and psychologically, not withstanding that there
will be no one to provide for the daily needs if the mother is in prison.
Children who grew up to these families experience lasting trauma as they bear
personal witness to the abuses inflicted by their very own father to their
mother. They feel fearful and anxious, always on guard for the next violent
event10. To condemn the mother for protecting her and the children’s rights by
putting her in prison will only be detrimental to the children. It is during their
nurturing years that parents must be there to support them yet they lost them
in one of the most crucial times of their lives. These children lost not only a
father and a mother at the same time, but also their belief in the concept of

5
National Demographic and Health Survey, PSA, (2017)
6
Rep. Act No. 9262 (2004)
7
Proportion of Poor Filipinos registered at 21.0 percent in the First Semester of 2018, PSA (2019)
8
Id.
9
Espina-Varona, I., (2016) Philippine women, children trapped in cycles of abuse, available at
https://www.ucanews.com
10
Domestic Violence Roundtable, (n.d.) The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children
family and hope for society’s understanding. They will suffer loss, humiliation,
and discrimination although they are not at fault.

Children can recover from witnessing or experiencing domestic violence,

but they need a good support system, high self-esteem, and healthy
friendships11. The sooner a child gets help, the better his or her chances in
becoming a mentally and physically healthy adult. These children need to feel
safe12 and their reliable support system need to talk to them about their fears,
healthy relationships and boundaries in addition to getting professional
help13. These can be hard if there are no parents to support the child.

Lastly, Battered Women Syndrome, as a pychological condition, is a real

condition testified to by experts and thus, the public must be more aware of
its existence so we can lessen the stigma. It is not new for people to hear that
the Philippine setting is still not very open to welcoming mental health issues.
Filipinos are some of the most collectivistic people in the world, so family-
centered that when one admits to having mental health issues there is not
only fear of self-embarrassment but also on bringing shame to their families14.
Older generations tend to have a different conception of “hardship” based
from their own experience and are likely to deal with stress and anxiety in a
totally different way15. While younger generations tend to seek counselling
from other people, older people may turn to religion16. The cultural attitude
developed by Filipinos due to the many years of colonization also resulted to a
coping mechanism to only deal with the cards that were given. Resilience
became an innate attribute and for the sake of survival, there is no room for
the faint of heart17.

However, people need to understand that what women with BWS endured
is way more than the kind of abuse most people could relate to. People need to
exert more effort to understand the state of mind of someone with BWS.
Moreover, one cannot measure the effects of the abuse to a particular person
relative to another’s similar experience because not everyone has the same
level of confidence, privilege, or optimism. People need to change from victim-
blaming to understanding, from apathy to sympathy, and that cannot be
achieved if the stigma still prospers. Thus, Filipinos need to start discussing
about BWS, its symptoms and effects, to empathize with the abused women to
ultimately end the stigma.

Our latest jurisprudence discussing BWS as a justifying circumstance is

dated January 2004 which convicted the woman because the claim of self-
defense was not established. On the other hand, R.A. 9262 which was passed
on March the same year provides that a woman found suffering from the
syndrome will not incur criminal and civil liability, even in the absence of any
elements of self-defense18. The effect of this law on similar cases is debatable.

11
Child Welfare Information Gateway, (2014) Protective Factors Approaches in Child Welfare
12
National Child Traumatic Stress Network, (n.d.) Interventions for Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: Core
Principles
13
U.S. Office on Women’s Health, (2017), Effects of Domestic Violence on Children
14
David, E.J.R., (2018) available at www.npr.org
15
Malaka, G., (2018) How I Learned To Talk To My Filipino Mom About My Mental Health, available at
www.npr.org
16
Balon, S., (2018) available at www.npr.org
17
Nadal, K., (2018) available at www.npr.org
18
Rep. Act No. 9262 (2004) Section 26
It raises questions such as: whether or not R.A. 9262 impliedly repeals the
latest jurisprudence available? Does the law create an entirely new defense
separate from the RPC’s self-defense? Can they be reconciled? Which now
shall govern?19 The country is yet to see another decided case to answer these
questions and hopefully this time, the law will not only be an empty victory
enclosed in a four-edged paper.

In sum, Battered Women Syndrome, as a justifying circumstance, must be

strengthened in the Philippines because poverty incidence among Filipinos
are still high, the children need the presence of their mother, and this will also
contribute largely to ending the stigma on BWS. The existence of R.A. 9262
also supports the advocacy to bring teeth to this cause. All being well, in the
subsequent cases that the country will have, battered women should be
guaranteed protection and understanding in place of mockery and
condemnation.

19
49 Ateneo L.J. 314 (2004)