Legal Question in Family Law in Philippines
My husband and I got married last April of 2011, before we got married he is living with another woman. The story is, we had or started our relationship 2003, until I found out last 2008 that he cheating on me, then I decided to break up with him. Last 2009 I found out that the girl is already pregnant and my husband is the father, he acknowledge the child and he signed to the birth certificate, but he doesn't want to marry the girl. Then 2010 they broke up because the girl found out that we are seeing each other again. Now, my husband is giving financial support to his baby until the boyfriend of the girl did something not so nice to my husband. The guy exchanging text messages to my husband saying that he is a irresponsible father and that the amount of money he is giving to his baby is nothing. So my husband decided to stop the financial support but the medical assistance of his baby is still there. My husband applied a medical plan from his company for his baby, since the baby needs it because she has heart problems. He is paying the medical plan monthly and it's not free, now the girl filed a complaint in the baranggay last year. And when we went there to hear what she wants to say, the barangay officer or the what you call "LUPON" said that my husband needs to give financial support aside from the medical assistance he is giving to his bay. And if we don't agree, DSWD will come into the case and will handle it, also the lupon said that if we bring this to the court, the court will demand him to give 75% of his income or salary to the child. We didn't agree, because, I told them that couldn't be because I' am his legal wife, and even though we don't have a child of our own, my husband still needs to give me financial support as his responsibility as a legal spouse. But the lupon said the court will not consider me since the time when the child was born, were not yet married, so I' am out of the case. We asked for another hearing at the barangay and we asked for legal advised to a attorney. All 3 attorney said that if were not going to agree to the amount of money that the girl is asking then don't need to attend to the next hearing. So the case was dropped since the girl did not pursue the complaint in the barangay. Now it's stated in the law that if the father is not giving support for 6 consecutive months, it is considered as abandonment or the girl can already file a case, beca. the first time she file a complained, my husband is not giving support for only 1 month. then after that since Aug of 2011, he stopped giving money, but the medical assistance is still there, so by Feb. it's almost 6 months that he is not giving money to his child. Now we heard that the girl will again file a case and said that "resresbak ako". Now my question is, can she still file a case, or will the court will acknowledge her complaint for child support if my husband is giving the baby a medical assistance. I mean, medical assistance can be also a form of support, right? Hoping for your advise.
1 Answer from Attorneys
If your husband is not providing sufficient support to his love child then he is depriving the said child of the support that she/he needs.Support will depend on the needs of the recipient and the capacity of the giver. In cases of deprivation, the mother of the said child can file a criminal case for violation of RA 9262. The deprivation of support is an economic violence under the said law.
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