Short answer. Yes. Section 6 of the VAWC law punishes physical violence at every level of seriousness, not only grave injuries. Acts constituting slight physical injuries are punished by arresto mayor, a term of imprisonment. Minor injuries do not put the conduct outside the law; they place it in a lower penalty band.
What the law says
those constituting slight physical injuries shall be punished by arresto mayor
RA 9262, Section 6 — Penalties. Read the full provision →
The penalty scales with the injury
Section 6 graduates the penalty by how serious the physical injury is. Serious physical injuries carry the heaviest of these penalties, less serious physical injuries a middle one, and those constituting slight physical injuries shall be punished by arresto mayor. So the medical assessment of the injury affects which penalty band applies, but even the lowest band is a criminal penalty involving imprisonment. A finding that the injuries were minor does not mean no offence was committed — it means the act falls at the lighter end of the scale the law sets.
Physical harm is only one form the law covers
The VAWC law reaches well beyond physical violence. It also addresses psychological and emotional abuse and economic abuse. So even where a single physical injury is slight, the wider course of conduct in an abusive situation may involve other acts the law separately penalises. The seriousness of one injury, taken on its own, does not measure the whole of what the law is concerned with. It is worth looking at the pattern of behaviour, not just the medical grading of a particular incident.
Why the medical finding matters, and its limits
Characterising an injury as slight, less serious or serious is a question that helps place the act in the correct penalty band. It is important evidence, but it is not the last word on whether there is a case. A medico-legal report documenting the injury is valuable precisely because it fixes where on that scale the act sits, which in turn bears on the penalty. What it does not do is decide the existence of the offence, since the law punishes the conduct across the range rather than only when the harm is grave.
What this means, and next steps
Because minor injuries still fall within the law, they are worth documenting rather than shrugging off. A medical report obtained promptly, together with a record of what happened and when, supports a complaint whatever the penalty band. Anyone unsure whether an incident is worth pursuing should take advice rather than assume that a minor injury means nothing can be done. The law's reach across the scale of injury, and its coverage of non-physical abuse, mean the picture is often larger than a single doctor's note suggests.