Short answer. Yes. Article 2219 lists adultery or concubinage as a specific ground for recovering moral damages. This civil claim for your suffering and humiliation exists independently of, and in addition to, any criminal proceeding your spouse or the other party may face over the same acts.
What the law says
Moral damages may be recovered in the following and analogous cases: (1) A criminal offense resulting in physical injuries; (2) Quasi-delicts causing physical injuries; (3) Seduction, abduction, rape, or other lascivious acts; (4) Adultery or concubinage
Civil Code, Article 2219 — When Moral Damages May Be Recovered. Read the full provision →
Adultery and concubinage are named grounds, not analogies
Article 2219 lists specific situations where moral damages may be recovered, and "adultery or concubinage" is one of the ten named categories in the list, appearing as item four. You do not have to argue that your situation is merely similar to something else the article covers — the statute names your exact situation directly. This makes the legal basis for your claim more straightforward than if you had to rely on the article's broader "analogous cases" language.
A civil claim separate from any criminal case
Moral damages under this article are a civil remedy for the suffering, humiliation, and mental anguish the betrayal caused you personally — a different question from whether your spouse or the other party is criminally liable. Because Article 2219 is found in the Civil Code's provisions on damages, this claim is not dependent on a criminal conviction being obtained first, though the facts underlying a criminal case, if one exists, may also support your civil claim for damages.
What you generally need to establish
Recovering moral damages under this article still requires you to actually prove the underlying act — that adultery or concubinage, as the law defines those terms, in fact occurred — and to show the suffering, humiliation, wounded feelings, or similar injury you experienced as a result. Simply asserting suspicion or general marital unhappiness is not enough; the article ties the remedy to the specific wrong actually being established, with real anguish flowing from it.
What this claim does not automatically include
A successful moral damages claim under Article 2219 compensates you for the moral injury itself; it is a separate calculation from other kinds of damages you might also be entitled to pursue, such as actual financial losses or damages meant to set an example for the public good, each of which depends on its own distinct requirements under other provisions. Moral damages address what you personally suffered, not every financial or reputational consequence that may also have followed from the betrayal.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- People of the Philippines vs. XXX262376 and YYY262376, G.R. No. 262376, April 2,2025 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Manila Electric Company (Meralco) vs. Lucy Yu, Represented By Her Attorney-In-Fact, Dennis Encarnacion, G.R. No. 255038, June 26, 2023 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Sps. Dionisio Estrada and Jovita R. Estrada vs. Philippine Rabbit Bus Lines, Inc. and Eduardo R. Saylan, G.R. No. 203902, July 19, 2017 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Eduardo P. Manuel vs. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 165842, November 29, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →