Proper Venue for Filing an Adultery Case in the Philippines

Short answer upfront: In adultery, the proper venue is the court of the city/municipality where each sexual intercourse occurred. Each act of sexual intercourse is a separate crime; you file where the act happened. Residence of the spouses, place of discovery, or where the marriage took place do not confer venue.

Below is a complete, practice-oriented guide to venue (and closely related procedural rules) for adultery cases in the Philippines.

1) Legal framework you need to know (in brief)

Substantive offense: Adultery (Art. 333, Revised Penal Code) is committed by a married woman who has sexual intercourse with a man not her husband, and by the man who knows she is married. Each sexual act is a distinct offense.
Private crime; special filing requirement: Under the rules on private crimes, only the offended spouse can initiate the case, and the complaint must include both alleged offenders (the wife and the accused paramour) if they are alive and known. Consent or pardon by the offended spouse bars prosecution.
Court with jurisdiction over the offense: Because adultery is punishable by prisión correccional (maximum up to 6 years), original jurisdiction for trial is in the first-level courts (Metropolitan/City/Municipal Trial Courts: MeTC/MTCC/MTC/MCTC), not in the RTC.
Preliminary investigation: Mandatory (the imposable penalty exceeds 4 years, 2 months and 1 day). You file your complaint-affidavit with the Office of the City/Provincial Prosecutor that has territorial jurisdiction over the place of the act.
Prescription: As a felony punishable by prisión correccional, the general prescriptive period is 10 years (with nuances on reckoning in private crimes). Prescription is separate from venue, but it affects the viability of filing.

2) The general venue rule (and how it applies to adultery)

Rule: A criminal action must be filed and tried in the court of the place where the offense was committed or where any of its essential elements occurred (Rules of Criminal Procedure, venue provision).

Applied to adultery:

The essential act is sexual intercourse.
Therefore, venue lies where the sexual act took place.
Mental elements (e.g., the paramour’s knowledge that the woman was married) do not create venue elsewhere.

Consequences:

You cannot file in the place where the spouse discovered the affair, where the spouses reside, where the marriage happened, or where messages/photos were found—unless the sexual act itself happened there.
If the sexual act occurred in City A, the case for that act must be filed in City A’s first-level court (after PI in City A’s prosecutor’s office).

3) Multiple acts and multi-location scenarios

Each act, separate offense: If sexual intercourse occurred on multiple dates and in multiple cities, each act is a separate count with its own proper venue.
- Practically, prosecutors often file separate Informations per act, in the court that has venue for that act.
- If several acts occurred in the same city, those acts can be charged in that city (usually as separate Informations to avoid duplicity).
Acts in different cities:
- Acts in City A → file in City A.
- Acts in City B → file in City B.
- You generally cannot file all acts in one city if some acts occurred elsewhere.
“On or about” dates: Exact dates aren’t always essential, but the place must be specifically and credibly alleged (and later proved). If you can’t pin down the exact date, an “on or about [month/day/year] in [City]” allegation is acceptable so long as evidence supports that place.

4) Special venue rules you might encounter

Acts on a moving vehicle (bus, train, aircraft) during a trip: You may file in any city/municipality the vehicle passed during that trip, including the place of departure and arrival.
Acts on board a vessel during a voyage: Similarly, you may file in any city/municipality the vessel passed, including the port of departure and port of arrival.
Acts partly in one territory and partly in another: The action may be instituted in either territory—though with adultery, the act of intercourse is ordinarily localized; use this rule only if facts genuinely straddle boundaries.
Acts committed abroad: As a rule, Philippine criminal laws are territorial. Adultery committed wholly outside the Philippines is not triable here.
- Exception to consider: if the act occurred on a Philippine ship or airship, Philippine law may apply; venue then follows the special rules for offenses on vessels/aircraft.

5) Prosecutor’s office vs. trial court: where to file at each stage

Preliminary Investigation (PI):
- File the complaint-affidavit with the City/Provincial Prosecutor of the place where the act occurred (i.e., the same territorial test as venue).
- Attach evidence that tethers the act to that place (hotel receipts, CCTV, witness statements, location data, etc.).
Trial (Information):
- If probable cause is found, the Information is filed in the first-level court (MeTC/MTCC/MTC/MCTC) of that same place.

Tip: If your proof of location is thin or ambiguous, expect motions to quash (for lack of jurisdiction over the offense due to improper venue) or later acquittal if the prosecution cannot establish venue at trial.

6) What must the Information (or complaint-affidavit) say about venue?

Allege the place of the offense clearly (city/municipality), e.g.: “That on or about 14 February 2024, in the City of Makati, Philippines, the accused [Name of Wife], a married woman, did then and there have carnal knowledge with [Name of Paramour], who then knew that she was married…”
If there are multiple acts in the same city, prosecutors typically file separate counts/Informations with distinct dates and the same place. Avoid lumping multiple acts in a single count to prevent duplicity issues.

7) Common pitfalls and how venue interacts with other adultery-specific rules

Failure to include both respondents: The offended spouse must charge both the wife and the alleged paramour if alive and known. Filing against only one (without a valid reason) risks dismissal—regardless of venue.
Consent or pardon: If the offended spouse consented to or pardoned the act(s), the case is barred. Venue becomes moot.
Nullity or annulment later on: A subsequent declaration that the marriage is void/voidable does not erase the adultery committed before that declaration. (This matters for deciding whether to file, not where.)
Barangay conciliation: Not required here. Barangay justice system conciliation does not apply because adultery’s penalty exceeds 1 year and the complaint is a criminal action initiated by the State upon the spouse’s complaint.

8) Proving venue (practical view)

Venue in criminal cases is jurisdictional, so the prosecution must allege and establish it. Examples of venue-anchoring proof:

Establishment records (hotel/condo/Airbnb bookings, guest logs, receipts with address);
CCTV or access logs showing entry/exit at a particular location;
Digital evidence with location metadata (photos/videos, app location histories) corroborated by testimony;
Witness testimony that credibly identifies the place.

If, after trial, the prosecution fails to prove that the act happened in the city/municipality alleged, the case falters on a jurisdictional defect (or at least reasonable doubt on a material matter).

9) Filing in the wrong place—what happens?

Before arraignment: The accused may file a Motion to Quash for lack of jurisdiction over the offense (improper venue). If granted, the case is dismissed without prejudice (generally), and the prosecutor may refile in the proper venue (subject to prescription and other defenses).
After arraignment: Venue objections are usually deemed waived if not raised before plea—except that courts still cannot try offenses over which they have no territorial jurisdiction. In practice, venue defects are litigated early.

10) Edge-case examples (to make the rules concrete)

Hotel in City A; discovery in City B: File in City A. City B has no venue just because texts/photos were found there.
Series of acts in Cities A and B:
- Acts in A → file in A;
- Acts in B → file in B. You may end up with separate cases if you intend to prosecute all acts.
Sex in a private car during a highway run crossing several LGUs: You may file in any LGU the car passed during that trip, including the place of departure and arrival.
Act aboard a Philippine-flag vessel from Cebu to Manila: You may file in Cebu City, Manila, or any port/city the vessel passed during the voyage.
Act allegedly “somewhere in Metro Manila,” but you can only prove Makati: Allege Makati specifically and be ready to back it up; do not rely on a generic “Metro Manila” allegation.

11) Practical checklist for complainants and counsel

Identify the place of each act you intend to charge.
Gather venue proof (receipts, logs, CCTV, location data, witnesses).
Draft complaint-affidavit for filing with the prosecutor of that place.
Name both offenders (wife and paramour) if alive and known.
Address consent/pardon (deny and explain facts; attach proof if needed).
Watch prescription (file promptly).
Expect PI; if probable cause is found, the Information will be filed in the first-level court of the same place.
For multiple places, plan separate filings per place (or focus on the best-evidenced acts).

12) FAQs (quick hits)

Q: Can I file where I live or where I found the evidence? A: No. File where the sexual act occurred.
Q: If I only know the hotel chain but not which branch? A: Investigate further. Venue must be tied to a specific city/municipality.
Q: Can I include five acts in one case? A: If all five acts occurred in the same city, prosecutors typically file separate Informations (one per act) in that city’s first-level court. If in different cities, file in each proper venue.
Q: The marriage was later annulled/declared void—does venue change? A: No. That goes to liability, not venue. Venue stays where the act took place.
Q: Is barangay conciliation required before filing? A: No.

Bottom line

For adultery cases, pin down the place of intercourse and file with the prosecutor and the first-level court of that place. If acts occurred in more than one locality, treat each act separately and file in each corresponding venue you intend to prosecute—backed by credible, place-specific proof.