12/01/2026
The Supreme Court has reiterated that disciplining children, even if it results in physical injuries, does not automatically amount to child abuse. For such to be considered abuse, there must be clear intent to harm a childโs dignity.
This was the ruling of the Court in a Decision upholding the conviction of a father for child abuse after subjecting his 12-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son to violent and excessive discipline.
Under Section 3(b) of RA 7610, or the ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ, ๐๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ค๐ต, any act that debases, degrades, or demeans a childโs dignity is considered child abuse.
The Supreme Court ruled that the fatherโs actions went beyond reasonable discipline, ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐๐.
The Court emphasized that while parents have the right to discipline their children, such measures must not be violent, excessive, or disproportionate to their misbehavior.
The Court also noted that without the clear intent to harm a childโs dignity, the offender cannot be held liable for child abuse but can be charged with other crimes under the Revised Penal Code.
The Decision is from the Second Division of the Supreme Court, penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez.
Read the full text of the press release at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/sc-excessive-discipline-that-harms-a-childs-dignity-is-child-abuse/.
Read the full text of the Decision at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/268457-###-vs-people-of-the-philippines/.
Copying of this content is subject to the SC PIOโs Credit Attribution Policy: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/credit-attribution-policy/
