Short answer. Yes. Under Section 6 of Republic Act No. 9262, a person convicted of violence against women and their children must, in addition to imprisonment, undergo mandatory psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment and report compliance to the court. It is a required part of the sentence, not an option.
What the law says
undergo mandatory psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment and shall report compliance to the court
RA 9262, Section 6 — Penalties. Read the full provision →
It is an additional, required penalty
Section 6 sets out the penalties for the crime of violence against women and their children, and counseling is not left to the court's goodwill. The law says that in addition to imprisonment, the perpetrator shall undergo mandatory psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment and shall report compliance to the court. The word mandatory is the key: this is a component of the sentence that comes on top of the jail term and the fine, not a substitute for them and not something the offender may decline. A person convicted under this law therefore faces three things together — imprisonment, a monetary fine, and the obligation to undergo treatment or counseling.
The offender must report compliance
The obligation does not end at attending a session. Section 6 requires the perpetrator to report compliance to the court. This makes the treatment enforceable and supervised rather than a formality the offender can quietly ignore. The court retains oversight, and the convicted person carries the burden of showing that he has actually undergone the counseling or psychiatric treatment. This reporting requirement reflects the rehabilitative aim behind the measure — the law is not only punishing past violence but trying to address its causes, and it keeps the offender accountable by tying continued compliance to the court that imposed the sentence.
Where it sits among the penalties
To see the counseling requirement in context, Section 6 first fixes the imprisonment for the various acts of abuse — ranging across the penalties the law and the Revised Penal Code prescribe depending on the act, and rising to the maximum period where the offence is committed against a pregnant woman or in the presence of her child. On top of that imprisonment, the section adds a fine of not less than One hundred thousand pesos but not more than three hundred thousand pesos, and then the mandatory counseling or psychiatric treatment. So counseling is the third layer of a combined penalty designed to punish, deter and rehabilitate at once.
What this does not decide
Section 6 makes the counseling mandatory but does not spell out, in the statute itself, the exact program, provider, duration or schedule — those are matters the court and the implementing rules address in the individual case. The requirement also presupposes a conviction; it is part of the sentence, so it applies once guilt is determined, not as an interim measure. This general information cannot tell you how a particular court will structure or monitor the treatment, or how non-compliance will be handled. Anyone convicted under, or charged with, this law should get specific legal advice on how the penalties, including the mandatory counseling, will apply to their situation.