Daily Serving of Legal Matters

image grabbed from www.rappler.com In the previous posts, the differences between Adultery and Concubinage were discussed. In this post, what will be tackled is how to prosecute the aforementioned crimes.  One shall observe and must follow it, otherwise, his or her case will be doomed. taken from  knowledgeisking.ning.com As stated in Article 344 of the The Revised Penal Code , the prosecution of the crimes of adultery and concubinage shall be: 1.  The crimes of adultery and concubinage shall not be prosecuted except upon complaint filed by the offended spouse. It is clear that only the offended spouse can file the complaint of the crimes of adultery and concubinage.  In the case of adultery, the complaint shall be filed by the offended husband and by the offended wife in the case of concubinage. No other person shall file the complaint.  Not even the parents of the spouses nor the children of the parties. 2.  The offended party canno...

This image is taken from google.com. Before providing any legal advice, below is the situation where this post is basically anchored upon. Mr. and Mrs. T are lawfully married.  One day, Mr. T, without any valid reason, left their conjugal dwelling.  Mrs. T, a loving and understanding wife, searched every nook and corner to find her husband.  After 2 years of searching, Mrs. T found out that Mr. T and their best friend Lady L have lived as husband and wife in a remote barangay of the south. When Mrs. T discovered the relationship of her husband and Lady L, she got furious and almost killed the two.  Despite such discovery, Mrs. T did not file any criminal case against Mr. T and Lady L. One year after, Mr. L went back to their conjugal dwelling and sought the forgiveness of Mrs. T.  As loving as she was, Mrs. T forgave Mr. T and they lived again under the same roof.  However, after how many months, their relationship was tested again. A...

These are crimes of infidelity.  Both crimes are committed when the parties are lawfully married, meaning they have celebrated their marriage under the Philippine laws.  Thus, if the parties are not married, regardless of multiple partners the other party may have, or regardless of how infidel the other party may be in the eyes of the other party, the aggrieved party cannot file adultery or concubinage as the case may be.