The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that “grossly abusive conduct” as a ground for legal separation under the Family Code includes acts by a spouse that create a hostile and intimidating environment within the marriage, clarifying that repeated physical violence is not always required.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez Kho Jr., the SC Second Division granted a husband’s petition for legal separation and reinstated a trial court ruling earlier reversed by the Court of Appeals (CA). 

The Court held that “acts constituting ‘grossly abusive conduct’ pertain to acts committed by a spouse against the other spouse, the latter’s child, or their common child which result in a hostile and intimidating environment for the other spouse, their children, and common children.”

FACTS AND ISSUE

The case stemmed from a petition for legal separation filed by Garry B. Go against his wife, Lynn Y. Chan-Go, under Article 55(1) of the Family Code, citing grossly abusive conduct during their marriage. Married in 2003 with two children, the couple’s relationship deteriorated amid financial difficulties and recurring marital conflict.

Garry alleged that Lynn repeatedly humiliated him, maligned him before relatives and friends, refused marriage counseling, controlled aspects of his personal life, and manipulated their children to pressure him into providing more financial support. Witnesses testified to Lynn’s allegedly controlling and confrontational behavior.

Lynn denied the accusations and argued that Garry had become irritable during periods of financial strain, frequently stayed out with friends, and failed to provide the level of financial support he had promised after relocating to Davao for work.

In 2017, the Regional Trial Court in Davao City granted the petition, finding prima facie evidence of grossly abusive conduct based on Lynn’s aggregate behavior. The CA reversed the ruling in 2018, holding that the incidents cited were ordinary marital disputes that were neither grave nor abusive enough to warrant legal separation. After reconsideration was denied, Garry elevated the case to the SC.

The issue before the SC was whether the CA erred in finding that grossly abusive conduct as a ground for legal separation had not been established.

RULING

The SC granted the petition, reversed the CA ruling, and reinstated the RTC decision decreeing the couple’s legal separation. It also remanded the case to the RTC for the dissolution and liquidation of the spouses’ property regime and the determination of custody and support arrangements for their children.

The Court ruled that grossly abusive conduct need not involve repeated physical violence and must instead be assessed case by case, based on whether a spouse’s actions create a hostile and intimidating environment within the marriage.

Applying this standard, the SC found that Garry sufficiently proved Lynn’s conduct amounted to gross abuse, citing evidence of her controlling behavior and the failure of repeated efforts to repair the marriage.

“Taken together, the Court finds that Garry was able to prove that Lynn’s acts constituted ‘grossly abusive conduct’ under the Family Code,” the ruling stated.

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