CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES

Chapter 1 EFFECT AND APPLICATION OF LAWS

Article 1. This Act shall be known as the Civil Code of the Philippines.REPUBLIC ACT NUMBER 386. The main draft of the Civil Code was prepared by the Roxas Code Commission, which was created via Executive Order No. 48 of March 20, 1947 by President Manuel Roxas.

An Act to Ordain and Institute the Civil Code of the Philippines

Article 2. Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion of their publication in the Official Gazette, unless it is otherwise provided. This Code shall take effect one year after publication.

EFFECTIVITY OF THE CIVIL CODE. The 1950 Civil Code of the Philippines took effect on August 30, 1950.

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 200 - Providing for the publication of laws either in the official gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines as a requirement for their effectivity.

EFFECTIVITY OF LAWS - When a statute does not explicitly provide for its effectivity, it shall have effect only after the expiration of the fifteen-day period following the completion of its publication either in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.

necessary requisites and no one shall be charged with notice of the statute’s provision until the said publication is completed and the fifteen-day period has expired.

Tañada v. Tuvera, 146 SCRA 446

Article 3. Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith.

REASON. The legal precept that “ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith” is founded not only on expediency and policy but on necessity (Zulueta v. Zulueta, 1 Phil. 254; U.S. v. Gray, 8 Phil. 506; U.S. v. Deloso, 11 Phil. 180; Delgado v. Alonso, 44 Phil. 739).

necessary consequence of the mandatory provision that all laws must be published. Without such notice and publication, there will be no basis for the application of the maxim “ignorantia legis non excusat.’’ It would be the height of injustice to punish or otherwise burden a citizen for the transgression of a law of which he had no notice whatsoever, not even a constructive one (Tañada v. Tuvera, 136 SCRA 27).

Article 4. Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is provided. (3)

NON-RETROACTIVITY OF LAWS. Law looks to the future and has no retroactive effect unless the legislature may have given that effect to some legal provisions, and that statutes are to be construed as having only prospective operation, unless the purpose and intention of the legislature to give them a retrospective effect is expressly declared or is necessarily implied from the language used, and that, in case of doubt, the same must be resolved against the retrospective effect (Buyco

v. PNB, 2 SCRA 682; Lazaro v. Commissioner of Customs, 17 SCRA 37; Universal Corn Products, Inc. vs. Rice and Corn Board, 20 SCRA 1048; Cebu Portland Cement Co. vs. CIR, 25 SCRA 789).

RETROACTIVE APPLICATION. Well-settled is the principle that while the legislature has the power to pass retroactive laws which do not impair the obligation of contracts, or affect injuriously vested rights, it is equally true that statutes are not to be construed as intended to have a retroactive effect so as to affect the pending proceedings, unless such intent is expressly declared or clearly and necessarily implied from the language of the enactment (Espiritu v. Cipriano, 55 SCRA 533).

Instances when a law may be given retroactive effect:1. Expressly provides for retroactivity2. Curative or remedial3. Procedural - a law prescribing the form of

pleadings will apply to all pleadings fi led after its enactment, although the action is begun before that time (25 rcl 791).

4. Penal in character and favorable to the accused - penal laws shall have retroactive effect insofar as they favor the person guilty of a felony, who is not a habitual criminal, although at the time of the publication of such laws a final sentence has been pronounced and the convict is serving the same.

Article 5. Acts executed against the provisions of mandatory or prohibitory laws shall be void, except when the law itself authorizes their validity. (4a)

MANDATORY LAWS - is one the omission of which renders the proceeding or acts to which it relates generally illegal or void.

PROHIBITORY LAWS - those which contain positive prohibitions and are couched in the negative terms importing that the act required shall not be done otherwise than designated (Brehm v. Republic, 9 SCRA 172).

Article 6. Rights may be waived, unless the waiver is contrary to law, public policy, morals or good customs, or prejudicial to a third person with a right recognized by law.

WAIVER - the intentional relinquishment of a known right (Castro v. Del Rosario, 19 SCRA 196);

It is essential that a right, in order that it may be validly waived, must be in existence at the time of the waiver (Ereneta v. Bezore, 54 SCRA 13) and it must be exercised by a duly capacitated person actually possessing the right to make the waiver.

PROHIBITION AGAINST WAIVER. Waivers cannot be made if they are contrary to law, public order, public policy, morals or good customs, or prejudicial to a third person with a right recognized by law.

Rights, protections, and advantages conferred by statutes may be generally waived.

Article 7. Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their violation or non-observance shall not be excused by disuse, or custom, or practice to the contrary.

When the courts declare a law to be inconsistent with the Constitution, the former shall be void and the latter shall govern.Administrative or executive acts, orders and regulations shall be valid only when they are not contrary to the laws or the Constitution.

REPEAL - the legislative act of abrogating through a subsequent law the effects of a previous statute or portions thereof. Repeal is either express or implied.

Implied - takes place when a new law contains provisions contrary to or inconsistent with those of a former without expressly repealing them (25 RCL 911).

Express - repeal which is literally declared by a new law, either in specific terms, as where particular laws and provisions are named and identified and declared to be repealed, or in general terms, as where a provision in a new law declares all laws and parts of laws inconsistent therewith to be repealed (25 RCL 911)

UNCONSTITUTIONAL STATUTES. - It is axiomatic that no

ordinary statute can override a constitutional provision (Floresca v. Philex Mining Corporation, 136 SCRA 136).

The constitutionality or unconstitutionality of a statute depends upon factors other than those existing at the time of the enactment thereof, unaffected by the acts or omissions of law enforcing agencies, particularly those that take place subsequently to the passage or approval of the law (Gonzales v. Commission of Elections, 21 SCRA 774).

RULES AND REGULATIONS/ADMINISTRATIVE AND EXECUTIVE ACTS. Rule is binding on the courts so long as the

procedure fixed for its promulgation is followed, and its scope is within the statutory authority granted by the legislature, even if the courts are not in agreement with the policy stated therein or its innate wisdom (Victorias Milling Company, Inc. v. Social Security Commission, 4 SCRA 627).

The regulations adopted under legislative authority by a particular department must be in harmony with the provisions of the law, and for the sole purpose of carrying into effect its general provisions.

Rules and regulations as well as administrative or executive acts violative of the law and the constitution are invalid.

Article 8. Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution shall form part of the legal system of the Philippines. (n)

JUDICIAL CONSTRUCTION AND INTERPRETATION. Construction, verily, is the art or process of discovering and expounding the meaning and intention of the authors of the law with respect to its application to a given case, where that intention is rendered doubtful, among others by reason of the fact that the given case is not explicitly provided for in the law (Black, Interpretations of Laws, page 1, cited in Caltex, Inc. v. Palomar, 18 SCRA 247).

EFFECT OF JUDICIAL DECISION - assume the same authority as the statute itself and, until authoritatively abandoned, necessarily become, to the extent that they

are applicable, the criteria which must control the actuations not only of those called upon to abide thereby but also those duty bound to enforce obedience thereto (Caltex, Inc. v. Palomar, 18 SCRA 247). These decisions also constitute evidence of what the law means (People v. Licera, 65 SCRA 270).

Judicial decisions of the Supreme Court are authoritative and precedent-setting while those of the inferior courts and the Court of Appeals are merely persuasive.

WHEN JUDICIAL DECISIONS DEEMED PART OF THE LAW. - The application and interpretation placed by the [Supreme] Court upon a law is part of the law as of the date of the enactment of the said law since the [Supreme] Court’s application and interpretation merely established the contemporaneous legislative intent that the construed law purports to carry into effect (People v. Licera, 65 SCRA 270).

Article 9. No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the laws. (6)

DUTY OF JUDGES - tasked with the dispensation of justice in accordance with the constitutional precept that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, and property without due process of law.

must not evade performance of this responsibility just because of an apparent non-existence of any law governing a particular legal dispute or because the law involved is vague or inadequate.

must always be guided by equity, fairness, and a sense of justice in these situations.

Where the conclusions of a judge in his decision are not without logic or reason, he cannot be said to have been incompetent (Corpus v. Cabaluna, 55 SCRA 374).

JUDICIAL LEGISLATION - divided into three great departments, namely the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. Each department cannot encroach into the respective domain of the other.

Article 10. In case of doubt in the interpretation and application of laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail. (n)

Where the law is clear, it must be applied according to its unambiguous provisions. It must be taken as it is devoid of judicial addition and subtraction (Acting Commissioner of Customs v. Manila Electric Company, 77 SCRA 469). The first and foremost duty of the court is to apply the law. Construction and interpretation come only after it has been demonstrated that application is impossible or inadequate without them (Republic Flour Mills, Inc. v. Commissioner of Customs, 39 SCRA 269).

Article 11. Customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall not be countenanced. (n)

Article 12. A custom must be proved as a fact, according to the rules of evidence. (n)

CUSTOMS - a rule of conduct formed by repetition of acts, uniformly observed (practiced) as a social rule, legally binding and obligatory.

Article 13. When the law speaks of years, months, days or nights, it shall be understood that years are of three hundred sixty-five days each; months, of thirty days; days, of twenty-four hours; and nights from sunset to sunrise.If months are designated by their name, they shall be computed by the number of days which they respectively have.In computing a period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last day included. (7a)

It is understood that years are 365 days each. One born on the first day of the year is consequently deemed to be one year old on the 365th day after his birth — the last day of the year. In computing years, the first year is reached after completing the first 365 days. After the first 365th day, the first day of the second 365-day cycle begins. On the 365th day of the second cycle, the person turns two years old.

MONTHS AND LEAP YEARS. Month is designated by its name, it shall be computed by the number of days which it has.

DAY, NIGHT AND PERIOD. Days are of twenty- four hours, and nights from sunset to sunrise. In counting a period, the first day shall be excluded and the last day included.

Article 14. Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in Philippine territory, subject to the principles of public international law and to treaty stipulations. (8a)

OBLIGATORY FORCE OF PENAL LAWS. Citizens and foreigners are subject to all penal laws and all other laws designed to maintain public security and safety. The liability for any violation of the said laws will even attach regardless of whether or not a foreigner is merely sojourning in Philippine territory.

EXCEPTION. While foreigners may be liable for committing offenses in violation of penal laws and those of public security and safety, they may however be immune from suit and, therefore, cannot be criminally prosecuted in the Philippines in certain cases where the Philippine government has waived its criminal jurisdiction over them on the basis of the principles of public international law and treaty stipulations.

Article 15. Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad. (9a)

NATIONALITY RULE. Regardless of where a citizen of the Philippines might be, he or she will be governed by Philippine laws with respect to his or her family rights and duties, or to his or her status, condition and legal capacity. Hence, if a Filipino, regardless of whether he or she was married here or abroad, initiates a petition abroad to obtain an absolute divorce from his wife or her husband (whether Filipino or foreigner) and eventually becomes successful in getting an absolute divorce decree, the Philippines will not recognize such absolute divorce. This is so because, pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code, the only absolute divorce which the Philippines recognizes is

one which is procured by the alien spouse of the Philippine citizen. Hence, in the eyes of Philippine law in so far as the Filipino is concerned and in cases where he or she is the one who procures the absolute divorce abroad, his or her status is still married and therefore should he or she marry again, he or she can be considered to have committed either concubinage in case of the husband or adultery in case of the wife (See Tenchavez v. Escano, 15 SCRA 355).

Article 16. Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of the country where it is situated.However, intestate and testamentary successions, both with respect to the order of succession and to the amount of successional rights and to the intrinsic validity of testamentary provisions, shall be regulated by the national law of the person whose succession is under consideration, whatever may be the nature of the property and regardless of the country.

In Bellis v. Bellis, 20 SCRA 358, where a foreigner executed a will in the Philippines but, who, at the time of his death, was both a national of the United States and also domiciled in the United States the Supreme Court held that since the intrinsic validity of the provision of the will and the amount of successional rights are to be determined under Texas law, the Philippine law on legitimes cannot be applied to the testacy of Amos G. Bellis.

Article 17. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and other public instruments shall be governed by the laws of the country in which they are executed.

When the acts referred to are executed before the diplomatic or consular officials of the Republic of the Philippines in a foreign country, the solemnities established by Philippine laws shall be observed in their execution. Prohibitive laws concerning persons, their acts or property, and those which have for their object public order, public policy and good customs shall not be rendered ineffective by laws or judgments promulgated, or by determinations or conventions agreed upon in a foreign country. (11a)

ACTS BEFORE DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR OFFICIALS - Any act or contract made in a foreign country before diplomatic and consular officials must conform with the solemnities under Philippine law because the host country where such diplomatic or consular officials are assigned, by rules of international law, waives its jurisdiction over the premises of the diplomatic office of another country located in the said host country.

Article 18. In matters which are governed by the Code of Commerce and special laws, their deficiency shall be supplied by the provisions of this Code. (16a)

Chapter 2 HUMAN RELATIONS

Article 19. Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith.

Article 20. Every person who, contrary to law, willfully or negligently causes damage to another, shall indemnify the latter for the same.

Article 21. Any person who willfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner that is contrary to morals, good customs or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.