ART. 1158. Obligations derived from law are not presumed.

Only those
expressly determined in this Code or in special laws are demandable, and
shall be regulated by the precepts of the law which establishes them; and
as to what has not been foreseen, by the provisions of this Book. (1090)
Legal obligations. Article 1158 refers to legal obligations or obligations
arising from law. They are not presumed because they are considered a
burden upon the obligor. They are the exception, not the rule. To be
demandable, they must be clearly set forth in the law, i.e., the Civil Code or
special laws. Thus:
(1)An employer has no obligation to furnish free legal assistance to his
employees because no law requires this, and, therefore, an employee
may not recover from his employer the amount he may have paid a
lawyer hired by him to recover damages caused to said employee by
a stranger or strangers while in the performance of his duties. (De la
Cruz vs. Northern Theatrical Enterprises, 95 Phil. 739 [1954].)
(2)A private school has no legal obligation to provide clothing allowance
to its teachers because there is no law which imposes this obligation
upon schools. But a person who wins money in gambling has the
duty to return his winnings to the loser. This obligation is provided by
law. (Art. 2014.) Under Article 1158, special laws refer to all other
laws not contained in the Civil Code.
ILLUSTRATIVE CASES:
1. Liability of husband for medical assistance rendered to his wife but
contracted by his parents.
Facts: X, by virtue of having been sent for by B and C, attended as
physician and rendered professional services to a daughter-in-law of B
and C during a diffi cult and laborious childbirth.
Issue: Who is bound to pay the bill: B and C, the parents-in-law of the
patient, or the husband of the latter?
Held: The rendering of medical assistance in case of illness is
comprised among the mutual obligations to which spouses are bound by
way of mutual support.4 If spouses are mutually bound to support each
other, there can be no question that when either of them by reason of
illness should be in need of medical assistance, the other is to render
the unavoidable obligation to furnish the services of a physician and is
liable for all expenses, including the fees for professional services.
This liability originates from the above-mentioned mutual obligation
which the law has expressly established between the married couple. B
and C not having personally bound themselves to pay are not liable.
(Pelayo vs. Lauron, 12 Phil. 453 [1909].)