ESTOPPEL (ARTICLE 1431)

1. An admission;
2. Is rendered conclusive
3. Upon the person making it; and
4. Cannot be denied or disproved against the person relying thereon
CONCEPT OF ESTOPPEL
Estoppel is a bar which precludes a person from denying or asserting anything
to the contrary of that which has, in contemplation of law, been established as the truth,
either by the acts of judicial or legislative officers or by his own deed or representation,
either expressed or implied.
It concludes the truth in order to prevent fraud and falsehood, and imposes
silence on a party only when in conscience and honesty he should not be allowed to
speak.
DISTINGUISHED FROM WAIVER
A waiver is a voluntary and intentional abandonment or relinquishment of a
known right. It carries no implication of fraud. It involves the act or conduct of only one
of the parties.
An equitable estoppel may arise, however, even where there is no intention on
the part of the person estopped to relinquish any existing right and frequently carries
the implication of fraud. It involves the conduct of both parties.
In Lopez v. Ochoa (L- 7955, May 30, 1958), the Supreme Court held that waiver
and estoppel are frequently used as convertible terms. The doctrine of waiver belongs
to the family of, is of the nature of, is based on, estoppel. The essence of waiver is
estoppel and where there is no estoppel, there is no waiver. This is especially true
where the waiver relied upon is constructive or implied from the conduct of a party.
DISTINGUISHED FROM RATIFICATION
In ratification, the party is bound because he intended to be bound; in estoppel,
the party is bound notwithstanding the fact that there was no such intention because
the other party will be prejudiced and defrauded by his conduct unless the law treats
him as legally bound.
DISTINGUISHED FROM FRAUD
Estoppel exists with or without a contract; fraud presupposes an attempt to
enter into a valid agreement or contract.
While estoppel may raised as a defense, fraud may properly be a cause of
action on account of the vitiated consent that it produces.
ADMISSIONS
A party may be estopped to insist upon a claim, assert an objection, or take a
position which is inconsistent with an admission which he had previously made and in
reliance upon which the other party has changed his position.
SILENCE OR INACTION
This is sometimes referred to as estoppel by standing by or laches. Mere
innocent silence will not work an estoppel. There must also be some element of
turpitude or negligence connected with the silence by which another is misled to his
injury. But one who invokes this doctrine of estoppel must show not only unjustified
inaction but also some unfair injury would result to him unless the action is held barred.
Estoppel by acquiescence is closely related to estoppel by silence. In the
former, a person is prevented from maintaining a position inconsistent with one in which
he has acquiesced.

NATURE OF LACHES
Laches is failure or neglect, for an unreasonable and unexplained length of
time, to do that which, by exercising due diligence, could or should have been done
earlier; it is negligence or omission to assert a right within a reasonable time, warranting
a presumption that the party entitled to assert it either has abandoned or declined to
assert it.
ELEMENTS OF LACHES
1. Conduct on the part of the defendant or of one under whom he claims, giving
rise to the situation complained of;
2. Delay in asserting complainants rights after he had knowledge of the
defendants conduct and after he has had an opportunity to sue;
3. Lack of knowledge or notice on the part of the defendant that the complainant
would assert the right on which he bases his suit;
4. Injury or prejudice to the defendant in the event relief is accorded to the
complainant.
LACHES AND PRESCRIPTION DISTINGUISHED
PRESCRIPTION
Concerned with the fact of delay
A matter of time
Statutory
Applies to law
Based on a fixed time

LACHES
Concerned with the fact of delay
Principally a question of inequity founded
on some change in the condition of the
property or the relation of the parties
Not statutory
Applies to equity
Not based on a fixed time

KINDS OF ESTOPPEL
1. Technical Estoppels
a. Estoppel by record the preclusion to deny the truth of matters set forth
in a record, whether judicial or legislative, and also to deny the facts
adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction
Example: the conclusiveness of a judgment on the parties to a case
b. Estoppel by deed a bar which precludes one party to a deed and his
privies from asserting as against the other party and his privies any right
or title in derogation of the deed, or from denying the truth of any
material facts asserted in it; a written instrument is necessary for there to
be estoppel by deed
Some doctrines:
1. If the deed or instrument is null and void because of the
contract, there is no estoppel
2. Ordinarily, the person estopped must be capacitated; but a
minor is clever enough to deceive others, estoppel may result
3. If a person, who is not a party to the instrument, notarizes the
same, he is not in estoppel

2. Equitable Estoppel or Estoppel in Pais

It arises when one by his acts, representations or admissions, or by his
silence when he ought to speak out, intentionally or through culpable
negligence, induces another to believe certain facts to exist, and such other
rightfully relies and acts on such belief, so that he will be prejudiced if the former
is permitted to deny the existence of such facts. It takes place in a situation
where because if a partys action or omission, he is denied the right to plead or
prove an otherwise important fact.
This may be estoppel:
1. by conduct or by acceptance of benefits
2. by representation or concealment
3. by silence
4. by omission
5. by laches
Some doctrines:
a. Conduct because of ignorance or mistake does not result in
estoppel
b. Estoppel by laches bars an action to create a vested right
(executory interest) but does not bar an action to protect a
vested right (executed interest)
c. Just because a person is silent does not necessarily mean
that he will be in estoppel; there should have been a duty or
obligation to speak
d. A mere promise to perform or to omit at some future time
does not necessarily result in estoppel (promissory estoppel);
for this to exist, the promise must have been relied upon and
prejudice would result unless estoppel is applied
ELEMENTS OF ESTOPPEL IN PAIS
In relation to the party sought to be estopped:
1. Conduct amounting to false representation or concealment of material facts or
at least calculated to convey the impression that the facts are otherwise than
and consistent with those which the party subsequently attempts to assert;
2. Intent or at least expectation that this conduct shall be acted upon by at least
influence the other party;
3. Knowledge, actual or constructive, of the real facts
In relation to the party claiming the estoppel:
1. Lack of knowledge or of the means of knowing the truth as to the facts in
question;
2. Reliance, in good faith, upon the conduct or statement as to the facts in
question;
3. Action or inaction based thereon of such character as to change the position or
status of the party claiming the estoppel to his injury, detriment, or prejudice
ESTOPPEL AGAINST OWNER
When in a contract between third persons concerning immovable property, one
of them is misled by a person with respect to the ownership of real right over the real
estate, the latter is precluded from asserting his legal title or interest therein, provided
all these requisites are present:
1. There must be fraudulent representation or wrongful concealment of facts
known to the party estopped;

2. The party precluded must intend that the other should act upon the facts as
misrepresented;
3. The party misled must have been unaware of the true facts; and
4. The party defrauded must have acted in accordance with the misrepresentation.
An estoppel operates on the parties to the transaction out of which it arises and
their privies.
The government is not estopped by mistake or error on the part of its officials or
agents; the erroneous application and enforcement of the law by public officers
does not prevent a subsequent correct application of the statute.
NATURAL LAW
1. Immutable and independent of all human regulations
2. Includes those rules which are neither written nor promulgated, but are derived
from reason and nature
TYPES OF OBLIGATIONS:
1. Moral obligations duties of conscience completely outside the field of law
2. Natural obligations not sanctioned by any action but have a relative juridical
effect
3. Civil obligations juridical obligations which apparently are in conformity with
positive law but are contrary to juridical principles and susceptible of being
annulled
4. Mixed obligations have full juridical effect
CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR NATURAL OBLIGATION TO ARISE:
1. Juridical tie which is not prohibited by law
2. This tie is not given effect by law
When a debtor offers a guarantor for his natural obligation, he impliedly accepts the
coercive remedies to enforce the guaranty, and therefore, the transformation of the
natural obligation into a civil obligation.