Short answer. No. Section 48 of RA 9262 is a separability clause: if a court later holds any section or provision of the Act unconstitutional or invalid, only that portion falls away. The remaining sections continue to apply in full, so one successful constitutional challenge does not undo the entire Anti-VAWC law.
What the law says
If any section or provision of this Act is held unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions shall not be affected.
RA 9262, Section 48 — Separability Clause. Read the full provision →
What a separability clause does
A separability clause is a standard safeguard written into most Philippine statutes. It tells a reviewing court that if one section is later found to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, that finding should be treated as narrowly as possible: the defective section is severed, and everything else the legislature enacted stays in force exactly as written. The clause binds courts reviewing the statute, not Congress itself, which remains free to amend or repeal any surviving provision through the ordinary lawmaking process regardless of how a court rules on a different section.
Why lawmakers include this kind of clause
Without a separability clause, a single flawed provision could, in theory, be used to argue that an entire law must fall with it. Congress added Section 48 so that RA 9262 as a whole, including its protection order remedies and criminal provisions, would not be put at risk every time one specific wording is challenged. The clause does not itself decide which reading of a challenged provision is correct; it only limits the fallout once a court has ruled, which is why litigants invoke it after a provision is struck down rather than as part of the underlying constitutional argument.
What this has meant for RA 9262 over the years
Since it took effect in 2004, particular wordings inside the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act have been questioned in court from time to time, including arguments about how the law treats men and women differently. The law itself has continued to stand, and Section 48 is the reason a challenge to one clause does not automatically threaten the rest of the statute.
What the clause does not guarantee
A separability clause does not shield any single provision from being struck down, and it does not decide in advance which parts of a law are more essential than others. It only limits the consequence of a successful challenge, so a reader should not assume every provision of RA 9262 is permanently safe from review, only that the whole statute will not collapse over one defect.
Why this matters for someone relying on the law today
For a woman or child currently relying on RA 9262 for a protection order or a pending case, Section 48 is a quiet but important guarantee: news of a constitutional challenge to one provision, or even a court ruling against a specific clause, does not mean the entire law has been repealed. The remedies available under the rest of the Act remain intact unless and until each is separately struck down.