Gregorio Miguel Pallugna LIFE, for many millenials today and even for some people from older generations, revolve much around Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Viber, Wechat, and all the other sites where highly edited photos of food and OOTDs are flaunted with impunity. Not surprisingly, many romantic relationships have been built from text messages, chats and private messages. Jessa is a young single-mother who, like many others, have grown into this modern social system where a major part of life floats around this intangible web called the Internet. While many people before had penpals, who often received handwritten love letters between weeks or months at a time, today online lovers have the benefit of communicating in real-time through electronic messages, which may even include face-to-face conversations through Facetime or video-chatting. Thus is the nature of our present world. In this context then, we ask ourselves how relationships are defined today. One issue that comes up from this social metamorphosis is the application of existing laws that may have not specifically defined certain social frameworks. Jessa’s problem is found in the middle of a law called the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act (VAWC), also known with the designation of RA 9262. This law protects women and their children from abuses committed by men with whom they have, or have had, a married, sexual, or dating relationship. Jessa had met Ramon on Facebook, an OFW who she became very good friends with online. Ramon was also from Jessa’s city and went to the same high school as Jessa did. Eventually, their online relationship blossomed into a romantic one. To make the story short they became girlfriend and boyfriend. With the aid of the conveniences of the internet, they were able to maintain a loving relationship where they constantly communicated face-to-face and even engaged in cyber-sexual activities which is not unexpected in an adult romantic relationship. After more than a year of this online romantic relationship, Jessa’s boyfriend finally came home to the Philippines where they were to meet. Much to Jessa’s dismay however, the guy showed abusive traits during their first actual meeting and she immediately decided to break-up with him for fear of her and her daughter’s safety. This angered Ramon who threatened to physically hurt Jessa if she did not get back with him. Eventually, Ramon released private, nude, photos of Jessa online. Shaming her as an immoral woman on Facebook and on Youtube, divulging not only her name but also the name of Jessa’s very young daughter. Jessa sought protection under the VAWC law, and filed a criminal complaint for physical and psychological abuse against her former boyfriend who turned out to be an abusive man. There is one problem though. The prosecutor in charge of filing the complaint for Jessa in court refused to accept Jessa’s online relationship with Ramon as a “Dating Relationship” within the meaning of RA 9262. According to the prosecutor, it is not a dating relationship because they never had any actual physical relationship. Up to date, there is yet no provision in any Philippine law or Supreme Court decision, specifically defining whether an online relationship can or cannot be covered under R.A. 9262. The North Carolina Court of Appeals (NCCA), USA, however has rendered a recent Decision (Thomas v Williams, July 7, 2015) which may give guidance on this issue. In explaining Chapter 50 of the North Carolina General Statute pertaining to Domestic Violence, which has an identical provision on dating relationships with that of RA 9262, the North Carolina Court of Appeals explained that “Read together—and in conjunction with the modifiers ‘casual acquaintance’ and ‘ordinary fraternization’—this language appears to expressly exclude only the least intimate of personal relationships from the definition of ‘dating relationship.’” It said further that “provided that a relationship is not a ‘casual acquaintance’ or results merely from ‘ordinary fraternization, and provided that this relationship is ‘romantic’ in nature ‘on a continuous basis’ and for a sufficient period of time, then it would appear to constitute a “dating relationship.” What remains to be true however is that this issue, as of yet, has not been properly settled in the Philippine legal system. In our society today, there are thousands of Jessas who find themselves under the abusive hand of the likes of Ramon largely due to the very fast development of technology and society. Unfortunately for them though, our legal system has failed to promptly keep up with the times. At present, Jessa is still waiting for the resolution of her Motion for Reconsideration of the prosecutor’s dismissal of her complaint. What lesson do we have to gain from Jessa’s plight then? While those with real-life, physically present boyfriends have the powerful shield of the VAWC law to protect them from abusive Ramons, those of you who found love on the internet only may have little to fend yourselves with. So, if your are a woman currently in a purely online or electronic romantic relationship, it is best to be more cautious in dealing with people you meet online in order to protect yourself. Or if it is already too late, find a good lawyer who can. It pays to know your rights.   (Gregorio Miguel Pallugna is a lawyer based in Cagayan de Oro. E-mail: gregpallugna@yahoo.com)