Quick answer

Yes—but not simply because someone is called a kabit.

Under current Philippine law, the offended spouse may pursue the affair partner through:

A criminal complaint for adultery if the married partner is a woman;
A criminal complaint for concubinage if the married partner is a man and the stricter statutory circumstances are present;
A fact-specific civil action for damages; or
In appropriate cases, proceedings connected with psychological violence under the Anti-VAWC Act.

For adultery or concubinage, the offended spouse generally cannot charge only the affair partner. The complaint must include both alleged guilty parties if both are alive. An emotional affair, suspicious messages, dating, or even proof of sexual relations will not automatically satisfy every offense.

Adultery and concubinage are different crimes

Articles 333 and 334 of the Revised Penal Code remain in force. They apply differently depending on which spouse is married.

Situation	Possible charge	What must generally be proved
A married woman has sexual intercourse with a man who is not her husband	Adultery against the wife and the man	The woman was married; sexual intercourse occurred; and the man knew she was married
A married man maintains a relationship with a woman who is not his wife	Concubinage against the husband and the woman	The husband kept her as a mistress in the conjugal dwelling, had sexual intercourse with her under scandalous circumstances, or cohabited with her elsewhere; the woman knowingly participated as his concubine

These gender-specific rules are unequal in their elements and penalties, but courts must apply them unless Congress changes the law.

When the married partner is a woman: adultery

One act of sexual intercourse may constitute adultery. The man involved is criminally liable only if he knew that the woman was married.

The offense is not established merely by affectionate messages, hotel bookings, photographs together, or an admission that the parties were “in a relationship.” Those facts may form part of circumstantial evidence, but the prosecution must still prove sexual intercourse and the other elements beyond reasonable doubt. The Supreme Court has recognized that circumstantial evidence can support an adultery conviction when the complete evidentiary chain satisfies that standard. See Valencia v. People, G.R. No. 244657.

Adultery is punishable by prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods—two years, four months and one day to six years. If the wife committed the offense while unjustifiably abandoned by her husband, the law provides a lower penalty; abandonment does not automatically erase the offense.

When the married partner is a man: concubinage

A husband’s affair is not automatically concubinage. Article 334 requires proof of at least one of these circumstances:

He kept a mistress in the conjugal dwelling;
He had sexual intercourse with a woman who was not his wife under scandalous circumstances; or
He cohabited with her in another place.

“Cohabiting” ordinarily means living together in the manner of husband and wife for some period, not occasional meetings for sex. Whether conduct was sufficiently open or scandalous is a factual question. The Supreme Court restated these elements in Singgit v. People, G.R. No. 264179.

The husband faces prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods—six months and one day to four years and two months. The concubine faces destierro. Destierro is not ordinary imprisonment; it bars the convicted person from entering places and territorial limits fixed by the court.

A private one-night encounter by a husband, without the circumstances required by Article 334, may fail as a concubinage case even though it is marital infidelity.

Can you file only against the affair partner?

Generally, no. Article 344 of the Revised Penal Code and Section 5 of Rule 110 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure provide that:

Only the offended spouse may initiate an adultery or concubinage prosecution;
Both guilty parties must be included if both are alive; and
Prosecution is barred if the offended spouse consented to the conduct or pardoned the offenders.

“Both guilty parties” is important. For example, a man who genuinely did not know that his partner was married may not be guilty of adultery. Whether one party may properly be omitted should be assessed from the evidence—not used as a tactic to proceed only against the kabit.

The complainant must also still have legal standing as the offended spouse when the complaint is filed. A prior annulment, declaration of nullity, death, or recognized foreign divorce can affect standing and should be reviewed before filing.

Consent, pardon, and reconciliation are fact-sensitive. Before signing an affidavit of desistance, settlement, reconciliation agreement, or written “forgiveness,” obtain legal advice about its effect on the criminal and civil remedies.

A civil case for damages may also be possible

Article 345 of the Revised Penal Code expressly allows an adulterer or concubine to be ordered, in the criminal proceeding or a separate civil case, to indemnify the offended spouse for proven damage.

The Civil Code may also support a separate, fact-dependent claim:

Article 19 requires everyone to act with justice, give others their due, and observe honesty and good faith;
Article 20 provides liability for damage caused contrary to law;
Article 21 covers willful injury contrary to morals, good customs, or public policy; and
Article 26 recognizes an action for meddling with or disturbing another person’s private life or family relations.

These provisions do not create an automatic award whenever an affair is proved. The claimant must establish the defendant’s wrongful conduct, knowledge and bad faith where required, causation, and legally compensable injury. Actual losses need documentation. Moral or exemplary damages are awarded only when their separate legal requirements are met.

An action based on injury to rights or quasi-delict is generally subject to the four-year period in Article 1146. The correct prescriptive period can depend on how the cause of action is pleaded, so a potential civil claimant should not wait for the criminal case to finish without advice.

Anti-VAWC may apply—but usually against the unfaithful partner

Republic Act No. 9262 treats marital infidelity as a possible form of psychological violence. Section 5(i) penalizes conduct that causes mental or emotional anguish, public ridicule, or humiliation to a protected woman or her child.

In XXX v. People, G.R. No. 252739, the Supreme Court held that when marital infidelity causes the wife mental or emotional anguish, the offender’s intent to cause that anguish is presumed from the infidelity. The prosecution must still prove the infidelity, the victim’s anguish, and the causal connection beyond reasonable doubt. A psychological diagnosis is not indispensable; the victim’s credible testimony may prove suffering, although medical and counseling records can corroborate it.

This remedy normally concerns the husband or intimate partner who has the relationship specified in RA 9262 with the victim. An affair partner does not automatically become liable under RA 9262 merely by participating in the affair. A third person may be implicated only under exceptional principles such as conspiracy, requiring proof of a shared design to commit the psychological abuse—not association or knowledge alone.

A court-issued protection order may be available when the statutory requirements are present. A barangay protection order, however, is limited to the physical-harm and threat provisions identified in Section 14; psychological infidelity alone should not be assumed to qualify for that particular order. The full remedies and filing rules appear in RA 9262.

Violations under Section 5(i) prescribe in ten years under Section 24.

Other family-law remedies

Sexual infidelity is expressly a ground for legal separation under Article 55 of the Family Code. A petition must be filed within five years from the occurrence of the cause.

Legal separation allows the spouses to live separately and affects property, inheritance, and related rights, but it does not dissolve the marriage bond. The spouses remain married and cannot remarry.

An affair alone is not an automatic ground for annulment or declaration of nullity. Infidelity may be evidence in an Article 36 psychological-incapacity case only if the totality of evidence proves a grave and enduring incapacity, rooted in the spouse’s personality structure and existing at the time of the marriage. Mere refusal to be faithful is not necessarily incapacity.

If the unfaithful spouse entered an actual second marriage while the first remained legally subsisting, bigamy or another illegal-marriage offense may need to be examined separately.

Evidence to preserve

Preserve evidence before accounts, posts, messages, or records disappear:

Your PSA marriage certificate and relevant civil-registry records;
A dated chronology identifying what happened, where, and how you learned it;
Original messages, emails, photographs, videos, voice messages, and social-media posts lawfully available to you;
Full screenshots showing the account name, date, time, URL, and surrounding conversation—not only cropped excerpts;
Original files and devices, with backups that preserve metadata;
Admissions made by either alleged offender;
Witness names, contact details, and a short note of what each person personally observed;
Evidence of cohabitation, such as lawfully obtained leases, addresses, utility records, deliveries, public posts, or testimony from people with personal knowledge;
Documents showing that the affair partner knew about the marriage;
Medical, counseling, or psychological records relevant to emotional suffering;
Receipts, employment records, and other proof of financial loss or treatment expenses.

Do not hack an account, impersonate someone, install spyware, trespass, steal a device, or secretly intercept private communications. The Anti-Wiretapping Act and cybercrime laws can make unlawfully obtained evidence unusable and expose the person gathering it to a separate case.

How to start the case

Identify the correct remedy. Determine whether the facts fit adultery, concubinage, Anti-VAWC, a civil damages claim, legal separation, or a combination of remedies.
Have the evidence reviewed before confrontation. A lawyer should check whether the evidence proves the statutory elements and was obtained lawfully.
Prepare a sworn complaint-affidavit. State material facts in chronological order, identify the specific acts and locations, name both alleged guilty parties when required, attach authenticated or properly identified evidence, and include supporting witness affidavits.
File with the proper prosecution office. A criminal complaint is ordinarily filed with the Office of the City or Provincial Prosecutor having territorial authority over the place where the offense or an essential element occurred. For adultery, identify the particular act or acts being charged. For concubinage, venue may turn on the location of the conjugal dwelling, scandalous conduct, or cohabitation.
Follow the current DOJ investigation track. Because the statutory penalties fall within the relevant range, adultery and concubinage are generally handled under the DOJ’s expedited preliminary-investigation rules. The prosecution office evaluates whether there is prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction. Submission periods can be short, including a period of up to five calendar days for a required counter-affidavit and ten calendar days for a motion for reconsideration under the expedited rules. Calendar any notice immediately and verify the governing procedure with the assigned office. Current DOJ circulars are available through the DOJ issuances page.
Prepare for trial-level proof. Filing a complaint is not a conviction. If an information is filed in court, guilt must still be proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Prior barangay conciliation is not required for adultery or concubinage because their maximum imprisonment exceeds one year, placing them outside the Lupon’s authority under Section 408 of the Local Government Code.

Important deadlines

Adultery and concubinage: As correctional offenses, they generally prescribe in ten years under Articles 90 and 91 of the Revised Penal Code. The period ordinarily runs from discovery by the offended party, authorities, or their agents and is interrupted by the filing of the complaint or information. Separate acts may raise separate computations.
Anti-VAWC under Section 5(i): Ten years under Section 24 of RA 9262.
Legal separation based on sexual infidelity: Five years from the occurrence of the cause under Article 57 of the Family Code.
Many independent civil actions for injury to rights: Generally four years under Article 1146 of the Civil Code, subject to the exact legal basis and accrual rules.

Do not wait for the last year. Disputes over discovery, continuing conduct, the date a cause of action accrued, or the effect of a prior filing can determine whether a case is already barred.

Common mistakes

Calling a husband’s affair “adultery” instead of examining concubinage;
Filing only against the affair partner when both alleged guilty parties are alive;
Assuming romantic chats prove sexual intercourse;
Treating any sexual encounter by a husband as automatic concubinage;
Relying entirely on anonymous posts, hearsay, or edited screenshots;
Obtaining evidence through hacking, surveillance software, secret interception, or trespass;
Publicly naming and shaming the parties, creating possible privacy, harassment, or defamation issues;
Signing a pardon, settlement, or affidavit of desistance without understanding its effect;
Assuming separation in fact ends the marriage;
Using threats of prosecution to demand money or unrelated concessions; and
Waiting until records disappear or a prescriptive period becomes disputed.

When legal help is urgent

Seek immediate assistance if there are threats, stalking, physical violence, forced entry, destruction of property, removal of children, withdrawal of essential support, dissipation of community property, or a risk that someone will leave the country or destroy evidence.

Go to the nearest police station or Women and Children Protection Desk when safety is at risk. A victim may also approach the Barangay VAW Desk, a Family Court, the local prosecutor’s office, or the DOJ Action Center. Emergency protection and safety should take priority over collecting more evidence or confronting the alleged offenders.

Frequently asked questions

Can a kabit be jailed merely for dating a married person?

No. Criminal liability requires all the elements of adultery or concubinage, proved beyond reasonable doubt. Dating or an emotional affair alone is not enough for those crimes.

Can I file the criminal complaint if I am the spouse’s parent, child, sibling, or friend?

Not for adultery or concubinage. Only the offended spouse may initiate those private crimes. RA 9262 has different rules on who may report an offense or petition for a protection order.

What if the spouses have already separated?

Separation in fact does not terminate the marriage. Adultery or concubinage may still be possible, although consent, pardon, abandonment, divorce, nullity, and the complainant’s status at filing can change the analysis.

Are screenshots enough?

They can support a case but rarely answer every issue by themselves. Their authenticity, completeness, source, lawful acquisition, and connection to the statutory elements must be established.

Does having a child with the married partner prove the offense?

It can be powerful circumstantial evidence, especially when accompanied by an acknowledgment of paternity, admissions, or proof of cohabitation. It does not remove the need to prove every element of the specific charge.

Can the affair partner be sued for damages even if the criminal case fails?

Possibly. Civil liability may rest on a different legal basis and burden of proof, but dismissal or acquittal can affect some theories. The alleged wrongful conduct, causation, damages, and applicable prescriptive period must be evaluated independently.

Does infidelity automatically cancel the marriage?

No. Sexual infidelity supports legal separation, not automatic annulment or nullity. A marriage remains valid until a competent court issues the appropriate final judgment.

Primary legal sources

This article provides general legal information, not advice for a particular case. Facts, documents, dates, venue, and the way evidence was obtained can change the result. Philippine law and official procedures were checked through 23 July 2026.