ADULTERY CONCUBINAGE

Adultery is committed by a wife (who
must also be charged together with the
other man)
Proof of sexual intercourse will suffice
to file a case
Both are the penal sanctions of
monogamy.
Both are punishable by law.
Concubinage is committed by a
husband (who must be charged
together with the concubine).
The prosecution must prove that the
(a) sexual intercourse must be under
scandalous circumstances, or that (b)
the husband kept a mistress in the
conjugal dwelling or cohabited with her
in any other place.

Adultery is punishable by imprisonment In concubinage the penalty for the man

of Prision Coretional in its medium and is lower by one degree, Prision
maximum period (range of 2 years, 4 Corretional minimum and medium (6
months and 1 day to 6 years months and 1 day to 4 years and 2
imprisonment). months), while the concubine is given
Both the wife and her paramour shall a separate penalty which is destierro
be subjected to such punishment if (exile), a prohibition from residing
found guilty. within r=25 kilometers from residence
of the accused for a specified period.
When she lies with a man not her The husband may lie with a woman not
husband, she is guilty of adultery. his wife without committing
concubinage.
Every time a wife had sex with another However, in concubinage, the husband
man, she commits the crime of is not yet guilty of concubinage when
adultery. he engages in sex with another woman,
unless he:
(a) "shall keep a mistress in the
conjugal dwelling"; or
(b) shall have sexual intercourse with
the other woman "under scandalous
circumstances"; or
(c) "shall cohabit with her in any other
place".

Adultery is an offence and is a practice Concubinage is accepted in certain

that is shunned morally, socially and societies.
legally.

Adultery is a term that is used when Concubinage is when such

extramarital relationships are relationships are carried on by a man.
maintained by a woman.

*****
But what is the reason for the seeming inequality between men and women in the eyes of the law? The Supreme Court has provided the
explanation, thus: The gist of adultery is the danger of introducing spurious heirs into the family, whereby the rights of real heirs may be
impaired and a man may be charged with the maintenance of a family not his own. In other words, when a husband has sex outside of his
marriage, there is no danger of his introducing any alien blood into his own family. When it is the wife who cheats, alien blood may be injected
into her family, so much so that her children may have different fathers, and her husband tasked with the duty of supporting children not his
own.
*****
In line with the clamor of women worldwide for equality with men, and the showing that women are not inferior to men (remember, women in
general even have a longer life span than men), it is believed that the difference in the treatment of marital infidelity as a crime should be also
be equalized. What is sauce for the goose should also be sauce for the gander.
*****
This proposed equality in the eyes of the law will also be in keeping with the very first article in the Bill of Rights which provides: “Sec.1. No
person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the
laws.”