10/01/2025
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 child’s 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 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘈𝘤𝘵, any act that debases, degrades, or demeans a child’s dignity is considered child abuse.
The Supreme Court ruled that the father’s actions went beyond reasonable discipline, 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆.
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 child’s 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/.
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