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MANILA, Philippines — Fostering a “hostile and intimidating environment” in a marriage may be deemed as “grossly abusive conduct” and serve as grounds for legal separation, the Supreme Court has ruled.
The high tribunal emphasized this in giving merit to a petition for review on certiorari filed by a husband against his wife, who were based in Cebu in the early 2000s.
In its 14-page decision on Nov. 18, 2025, but released only on Friday, the Second Division said that the husband was able to prove that his wife’s “controlling” attitude was a violation of the Family Code.
Among the actions that the husband cited as grounds for being “grossly abusive” were: The wife manipulated her children so she could force her husband to provide more financial support; she did not like her friends and banned him from seeing them; she would do things without his knowledge and she was only after the money.
