LAST MINUTE TIPS

Civil Law
Supervised by: Atty. Teresita Cruz

Lasallian Commission on Bar Operations 2021

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LEGAL PERSONALITY, CAPACITY TO ACT
Q: What is the difference between juridical capacity
and capacity to act?
Juridical capacity, which is the fitness to be the subject
of legal relations, is inherent in every natural person,
and is lost only through death. Capacity to act, on the
other hand, is the power to do acts with legal effect,
and is acquired and may be lost. [Art. 37, NCC]
Q: What is provisional personality?
Provisional personality is the personality received by
the child while he/she is in the womb of the mother.
However, if it is not born alive later on, the provisional
personality favorable to it disappears as if it had never
existed.
Art. 40 NCC. Birth determines personality but the
conceived child shall be considered born for all
purposes that are favorable to it, provided it be
born later with the conditions specified in the
following article
Art. 41 NCC. For civil purposes, the fetus is
considered born if it is alive at the time it is
completely delivered from the mother’s womb.
However, if the fetus had an intra-uterine life of
less than seven months, it is not deemed born if it
dies within 24 hours after its complete delivery
from the maternal womb.
MARITAL RELATIONS
Q: What are the essential requisites of a valid
marriage?
1. Legal capacity of the contracting parties who
must be a male and a female; and
2. Consent freely given in the presence of the
solemnizing officer [Art. 2, FC]
Q: What are the formal requisites of a marriage?
1. Authority of the solemnizing officer;
2. A valid marriage license except in the cases
provided for in Chapter 2 of this Title; and
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3. A marriage ceremony which takes place with the
appearance of the contracting parties before the
solemnizing officer and their personal declaration
that they take each other as husband and wife in
the presence of not less than two witnesses of
legal age. [Art. 3, FC]
Q: What is the rule on the absence of any of the
requisites?
The absence of any of the essential or formal
requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio. [Art.
4, FC] However, a defect in any of the essential
requisites shall not affect the validity of the marriage
but the party or parties responsible for the irregularity
shall be civilly, criminally and administratively liable.
Exception: Those solemnized by any person not
legally authorized to perform marriages, unless such
marriages were contracted with either or both parties
believing in good faith that the solemnizing officer had
the legal authority to do so. [Art. 35(2), FC]
Q: Who may solemnize marriage?
1. Any incumbent member of the judiciary within the
court’s jurisdiction;
2. Any priest, rabbi, imam, or minister of any church
or religious sect duly authorized by his church or
religious sect and registered with the civil
registrar general, acting within the limits of the
written authority granted by his church or religious
sect and provided that at least one of the
contracting parties belongs to the solemnizing
officer’s church or religious sect;
3. Any ship captain or airplane chief in marriages in
articulo mortis, between passengers or crew
members, while the ship is at sea or the plane is
in flight and during stopovers at ports of call;
4. Any military commander of a unit, who is a
commissioned officer, in marriages in articulo
mortis between persons within the zone of
military operation, whether members of the
armed forces or civilians. There must be a
chaplain assigned to the unit who is not available
at the time of the marriage in articulo mortis.
5. Any consul-general, consul or vice-consul for
marriages between Filipino citizens abroad. [Art.
7, FC]
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Q: Can an ambassador solemnize a marriage?
A: No, an ambassador even if he is the head of a
diplomatic mission has no authority to perform a
marriage. This is because an ambassador only takes
care of the relations between the Philippines and the
country to which he is assigned. Furthermore, an
ambassador is not included in Article 7 of the Family
Code which enumerated the persons allowed to
solemnize a marriage.
Q: Who may initiate a foreign divorce proceeding
between a Filipino and an alien spouse?
Both the Filipino and the alien spouse, provided that
the divorce decree was obtained abroad. It is not
required that the alien spouse should be the one to
initiate the foreign divorce proceeding as the law does
not distinguish whether the Filipino spouse is the
petitioner or the respondent therein.[Republic v.
Manalo, G.R. No. 221029, April 24, 2018]
Q: If either or both of the contracting parties are
between the ages of eighteen (18) and twenty-one
(21), is consent by their father, mother, or guardian
needed?
Yes. In case either or both of the contracting parties
are between the ages of 18 and 21, they shall exhibit
to the local civil registrar, the consent to their marriage
of their father, mother, surviving parent or guardian, or
persons having legal charge of them, in the order
mentioned.
Q: What is the exception in Article 14 of the FC with
regard to the requirement of consent by either or both
contracting parties between ages 18 and 21?
When the contracting parties have been emancipated
by a previous marriage.
Q: Enumerate the marriages exempt from license
requirement.
1. Marriages in articulo mortis [Art. 27, FC];
2. Residence of either party is so located that there
is no means of transportation to enable such party
to appear personally before the local civil registrar
[Art. 28, FC];
3. Marriages among Muslims or among members of
the ethnic cultural communities [Art. 34, FC];
4. Marriage of a man and a woman who have lived
together as husband and wife for at least 5 years
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and without any legal impediment to marry each
other. [Art. 34, FC]
Q: What are the grounds for void marriages?
1. Those contracted by any party below eighteen
years of age even with the consent of parents or
guardians;
2. Those solemnized by any person not legally
authorized to perform marriages unless such
marriages were contracted with either or both
parties believing in good faith that the
solemnizing officer had the legal authority to do
so;
3. Those solemnized without license, unless exempt
from the marriage license requirement;
4. Those bigamous or polygamous marriages not
falling under Art. 41 FC;
5. Those contracted through mistake of one
contracting party as to the identity of the other;
6. Those subsequent marriages that are void under
Article 53 [Art. 35, FC];
7. Marriages where one or both contracting parties
are psychologically incapacitated at the time of
the marriage [Art. 36, FC];
8. Incestuous marriages [Art. 37, FC];
9. Marriages void by reason of public policy [Art. 38,
FC]
Q: Enumerate voidable marriages.
1. That the party in whose behalf it is sought to have
the marriage annulled was eighteen years of age
or over but below twenty-one, and the marriage
was solemnized without the consent of the
parents, guardian or person having substitute
parental authority over the party, in that order,
unless after attaining the age of twenty-one, such
party freely cohabited with the other and both
lived together as husband and wife;
2. That either party was of unsound mind, unless
such party after coming to reason, freely
cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
3. That the consent of either party was obtained by
fraud, unless such party afterwards, with full
knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud,
freely cohabited with the other as husband and
wife;
4. That the consent of either party was obtained by
force, intimidation or undue influence, unless the
same having disappeared or ceased, such party
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thereafter freely cohabited with the other as
husband and wife;
5. That either party was physically incapable of
consummating the marriage with the other, and
such incapacity continues and appears to be
incurable; or
6. That either party was afflicted with a sexually-
transmissible disease found to be serious and
appears to be incurable. [Art. 45, FC];
Q: What is psychological incapacity?
Psychological incapacity is not a medical but a legal
concept. It is a personal condition that prevents a
spouse to comply to fundamental marital obligations in
relation to a specific person that may exist at the time
of marriage but may have revealed through behavior
subsequent to ceremonies (Tan-Andal v. Andal G.R.
No, 196359, May 11, 2021).
Q: What are the grounds for filing a petition for legal
separation?
1. Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive
conduct directed against the petitioner, a
common child, or a child of the petitioner;
2. Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the
petitioner to change religious or political
affiliation;
3. Attempt of respondent to corrupt or induce the
petitioner, a common child, or a child of the
petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or
connivance in such corruption or inducement;
4. Final judgment sentencing the respondent to
imprisonment of more than six years, even if
pardoned;
5. Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the
respondent;
6. Lesbianism or homosexuality of the respondent;
7. Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent
bigamous marriage, whether in the Philippines or
abroad;
8. Sexual infidelity or perversion;
9. Attempt by the respondent against the life of the
petitioner; or
10. Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without
justifiable cause for more than one year. [Art. 55,
FC]
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Q: What are the defenses for legal separation?
1. Where the aggrieved party has condoned the
offense or act complained of;
2. Where the aggrieved party has consented to the
commission of the offense or act complained of;
3. Where there is connivance between the parties in
the commission of the offense or act constituting
the ground for legal separation;
4. Where both parties have given ground for legal
separation;
5. Where there is collusion between the parties to
obtain a decree of legal separation; or
6. Where the action is barred by prescription [Art.
56, FC]
Q: What are excluded from the ACP?
1. Property acquired during the marriage by
gratuitous title by either spouse, and the fruits and
income thereof, if any, except where it is
expressly provided by the donor, testator or
grantor that they shall form part of the community
property;
2. Property for personal and exclusive use of either
spouse. Jewelry shall form part of the community
property; and
3. Property acquired before the marriage by either
spouse who has legitimate descendants by a
former marriage, and the fruits and income
thereof, if any. [Art. 92, FC]
Q: What are the exclusive properties of each spouse
under CPG?
1. That which is brought to the marriage as his or
her own;
2. That which each acquired during the marriage by
gratuitous title;
3. That which is acquired by right of redemption, by
barter or by exchange with property belonging to
only one of the spouses; and
4. That which is purchased with exclusive money of
the wife or of the husband. [Art. 109, FC]
Q: What are the instances where a spouse can sell
property to each other?
1. If the future spouses executed a marriage
settlement consisting of a regime of separation of
property [Art. 143, FC]
2. Judicial separation of property [Art. 135, FC in
relation to Art. 1490, NCC
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PROPERTY: Ownership, Co-ownership, Accession, Easement, Nuisance
Q: What are the immovable properties?
The following are immovable property:
1. Land, buildings, roads and constructions of all
kinds adhered to the soil;
2. Trees, plants, and growing fruits, while they are
attached to the land or form an integral part of an
immovable;
3. Everything attached to an immovable in a fixed
manner, in such a way that it cannot be separated
therefrom without breaking the material or
deterioration of the object;
4. Statues, reliefs, paintings or other objects for use
or ornamentation, placed in buildings or on lands
by the owner of the immovable in such a manner
that it reveals the intention to attach them
permanently to the tenements;
5. Machinery, receptacles, instruments or
implements intended by the owner of the
tenement for an industry or works which may be
carried on in a building or on a piece of land, and
which tend directly to meet the needs of the said
industry or works;
6. Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives, fish
ponds or breeding places of similar nature, in
case their owner has placed them or preserves
them with the intention to have them permanently
attached to the land, and forming a permanent
part of it; the animals in these places are included;
7. Fertilizer actually used on a piece of land;
8. Mines, quarries, and slag dumps, while the matter
thereof forms part of the bed, and waters either
running or stagnant;
9. Docks and structures which, though floating, are
intended by their nature and object to remain at a
fixed place on a river, lake, or coast;
10. Contracts for public works, and servitudes and
other real rights over immovable property. [Art.
415, NCC]
Q: Is machinery placed by a tenant on leased property
considered real property?
No, machinery placed by a tenant on leased property
is not real property. Machinery intended by the owner
of the tenement for an industry or works which may be
carried on in a building or on a piece of land, and which
tend directly to meet the needs of the said industry or
works is immovable property. [Art. 415 (5), NCC]
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Machinery must be placed by the owner of the land,
building or tenement to be considered real property.
Therefore, machinery placed by the tenant of such
land, building or tenement is not real property, as the
intent is not to have the machinery permanently
attached to the leased property.
Exception: Machineries become real or immovable
properties if under the contract of lease, the lessee and
the lessor have agreed that machineries introduced
into the leased premises shall go to the lessor or owner
of leased premises upon the expiration of the lease
period or term. [Davao Sawmill Co. v. Castillo, 61 Phil
709, August 7, 1935]
Q: What are movable properties?
The following are deemed personal property:
1. Those movables susceptible of appropriation
which are not included in the preceding article;
2. Real property which by any special provision of
law is considered as personalty;
3. Forces of nature which are brought under control
by science; and
4. In general, all things which can be transported
from place to place without impairment of the real
property to which they are fixed. [Art. 416, NCC]
5. Obligations and actions which have for their
object movables or demandable sums; and
6. Shares of stock of agricultural, commercial and
industrial entities, although they may have real
estate. [Art. 417, NCC]
Q: What are properties of public dominion?
The following things are property of public dominion:
1. Those intended for public use, such as roads,
canals, rivers, torrents, ports and bridges
constructed by the State, banks, shores,
roadsteads, and other of similar character;
2. Those that are intended for some public service;
and
3. Those that are intended for the development of
national wealth. [Art. 420, NCC]
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Q: What are the characteristics of property of public
dominion?
Property of public dominion are outside the commerce
of man. It cannot be acquired by prescription against
the State nor can it be the subject matter of contracts.
It cannot be registered under the Torrens system.
[Republic v. Rovency Realty and Development
Corporation, G.R. No. 190817, January 10, 2018]
Meaning, it cannot be privately owned and therefore
cannot be the subject of attachment and levy in
execution. [Viuda De Tan Toco v. The Municipal
Council of Iloilo, G.R. No. L-24950, March 25, 1926]
Q: What is patrimonial property?
All other property of the State not intended for public
use or not intended for some public service or for the
development of national wealth. [Art. 421, NCC]
Q: What is ownership?
It is the independent and general right of a person to
the exclusive enjoyment and control of a thing in his
possession, enjoyment, disposition, and recovery,
subject only to the restrictions or limitations
established by law and the rights of others. [Art. 427-
428, NCC]
Q: What is naked ownership?
Owner has the bare title to the property without the
right to use and to the fruits.
Q: What is beneficial ownership?
Person has the right to enjoy and use the property, as
well as the fruits, but legal title is vested in another.
Q: What is the doctrine of self-help?
The owner or lawful possessor of a thing has the right
to exclude any person from the enjoyment or disposal
thereof. He may use such force as may be reasonably
necessary to repel or prevent an actual or threatened
unlawful physical invasion or usurpation of his
property. [Art. 429, NCC]
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Q: What is the doctrine of state of necessity?
The owner of a thing has no right to prohibit the
interference of another with the same, if the
interference is necessary to avert an imminent danger
and the threatened damage, compared to the damage
arising to the owner from the interference, is much
greater. The owner may demand from the person
benefitted indemnity for the damage to him. [Art. 432,
NCC]
Q: What is a co-ownership?
There is co-ownership whenever the ownership of an
undivided thing or right belongs to different persons.
[Art. 484, NCC]
Q: What are the rights of each co-owner?
1. To use the thing in common according to the
purpose intended [Art. 486, NCC];
2. To share in the benefits in proportion to his
undivided interest, provided the charges are borne
in the same proportion [Art. 485, NCC];
3. To compel the other co-owners to contribute to the
necessary expenses for preservation of property
and to the payment of taxes [Art. 488, NCC];
4. Any of the co-owners may renounce so much of his
undivided interest equivalent to his share in
necessary expenses and taxes he cannot
contribute to [Art. 488, NCC];
5. To bring an action in ejectment [Art. 487, NCC];
6. To oppose any act of alteration [Art. 491, NCC];
7. To protest resolutions of financial majority which
are seriously prejudicial to the minority in acts of
administration [Art. 492, NCC];
8. To ask for partition as long as the co-ownership
exists, unless:
a. Indivision is imposed by stipulation among co-
owners (10 years maximum)
b. Imposed by donor or testator (20 years
maximum)
c. Generally prohibited by law
d. Property is an indivisible thing
e. If the division shall greatly reduce or diminish
the value of the property [Art. 494, NCC]
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Q: What are the grounds for extinguishment of co- Q: Difference between alluvium and avulsion.
ownership?
1. Consolidation or merger in one co-owner; Alluvium Avulsion
2. Acquisitive prescription in favor of a third person The accretion is gradual The accretion is
or a co-owner who repudiates co-ownership; sudden and abrupt
3. Loss or destruction of property co-owned; The accretion cannot be The accretion can be
4. Partition; identified identified
5. Expropriation; There is merely an There is first a
6. Termination of period agreed upon by co-owners; attachment detachment followed by
7. Sale of the entire property by co-owners. attachment
The accretion belongs to The ownership is
Q: What is accession? the owner of the land to retained by the owner of
It is the right of the owner of a property over everything which the attachment is the land from which it is
which is produced, incorporated or attached thereto made ipso jure detached, provided he
either naturally or artificially. It must be emphasized removes such land and
that accession is NOT a mode of acquiring ownership. brings it back to his own
It is simply an attribute and/or right derived from property within 2 years
ownership. from such detachment/
segregation.

Q: What are the kinds of accession?
1. Accession discreta - everything produced by
the property:
a. Natural Fruits - spontaneous products of
the soil, and the young and other
products of animals;
b. Industrial Fruits - produced by lands of
any kind through cultivation or labor; and
c. Civil Fruits - rents of buildings or lands,
and perpetual or life annuities or other
similar income. [Art. 441-442, NCC]
2. Accession continua - right of owner of a thing
over everything which is incorporated or attached
thereto:
a. For real property:
i. Accession industrial
ii. Accession natural
b. For personal property:
i. Adjunction or conjunction
ii. Mixture or confusion
iii. Specification
Q: What are the requisites for a property to be
considered hidden treasure?
1. It is hidden and unknown deposit;
2. It consists of money, jewelry, or other precious
objects; and
3. The lawful ownership does not appear. [Art. 439,
NCC]
Q: Who has a right over a hidden treasure?
Generally, it belongs to the owner of the land, building
or other property on which it is found, EXCEPT:
1. The finder is entitled to ½ if discovery is made
on property of another, the State, or any of its
subdivisions, AND by chance
2. If the finder is a trespasser, he shall not be
entitled to any share of the treasure
3. If the things be found of interest to science or
arts, the State may acquire them at their just
price [Art. 438, NCC]
Q: What is easement?
An easement is a real right on another’s property,
corporeal and immovable, whereby the owner of the
latter must refrain from doing or allowing somebody
else to do or something to be done on his property, for
the benefit of another person or tenement. [Quimen v.
Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 112331, May 29, 1996]
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Q: Distinguish between:
a. Continuous and discontinuous easements;
b. Apparent and non-apparent easements; and
c. Positive and negative easements
A. Continuous easements are those the use of which
is or may be incessant, without the intervention of
any act of man, while discontinuous easements
are those which are used at intervals and depend
upon the acts of man. [Art. 615, NCC]
B. Apparent easements are those which are made
known and are continually kept in view by external
signs that reveal the use and enjoyment of the
same, while non-apparent easements are those
which show no external indication of their
existence. [Art. 615, NCC]
C. Positive easements are those which impose upon
the owner of the servient estate the obligation of
allowing something to be done or of doing it
himself, while negative easements are those
which prohibit the owner of the servient estate
from doing something which he could lawfully do if
the easement did not exist. [Art. 615, NCC]
Q: How is a continuous and apparent easement
acquired by prescription?
For positive easements, the ten year prescriptive
period starts from the day on which the owner of the
dominant estate or the person who may have made
use of the easement commenced to exercise it upon
the servient estate. For negative easements, the 10-
year period starts to run from the day the owner of the
dominant estate forbid the owner of the servient
estate, through an instrument acknowledged before a
notary public, from executing an act which would be
lawful without the easement. [Art. 621, NCC]
Q: What are the requirements for the establishment of
the legal easement of right of way?
The following are the requirements:
1. The dominant estate is surrounded by other
immovables pertaining to other persons
2. There is no adequate outlet to a public
highway;
3. It is absolutely necessary for the use and
cultivation of the enclosed estate;
4. The dominant estate owner pays proper
indemnity to the servient estate owner;
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5. Claimant is the owner or one with a real right
thereto;
6. The isolation was not due to the proprietor’s
(dominant estate owner’s) own acts; and
7. The right of way claimed is at a point least
prejudicial to the servient estate.
Q: Who has the burden of proving entitlement to the
legal easement of right of way?
The dominant estate owner must prove by
preponderance of evidence the entitlement to an
easement of right of way. [Cristobal vs. CA G.R. No.
125339 June 22, 1998]
Q: How are easements extinguished?
There are six ways extinguishing an easement:
1. By merger in the same person of the ownership
of the dominant and servient estates [Art. 631(1),
NCC];
2. By non-use for ten years [Art. 631(2), NCC];
a. For discontinuous easements, this period
shall be computed from the day on which
they ceased to be used.
b. For continuous easements, from the day
on which an act contrary to the same took
place
3. When either or both of the estates fall into such
condition that the easement cannot be used BUT
it shall revive if the subsequent condition of the
estates or either of them should again permit its
use, unless when the use becomes possible,
sufficient time for prescription has elapsed in
accordance with the provisions of the preceding
number [Art. 631(3), NCC];
4. By the expiration of the term or the fulfillment of
the condition, if the easement is temporary or
conditional [Art. 631(4), NCC];
5. By the renunciation of the owner of the dominant
estate [Art. 631(5), NCC]; and
6. By the redemption agreed upon between the
owners of the dominant and servient estates [Art.
631(6), NCC].
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Q: What is a nuisance?
A nuisance is any act, omission, establishment,
business, condition or property, or anything else
which:
1. Injures or endangers the health or safety of
others;
2. Annoys or offends the senses;
3. Shocks, defies, or disregards decency or
morality;
4. Obstructs or interferes with the free passage
of any public highway, street, or any body of
water; or
5. Hinders or impairs the use of property. [Art.
694, NCC]

Q: Distinguish between a nuisance per se and a

nuisance per accidens
A nuisance per se is recognized as a nuisance under
any and all circumstances, because it constitutes a
direct menace to public health or safety, and for that
reason, may be abated summarily under the undefined
law of necessity [Aquino v. Municipality of Malay,
Aklan, G.R. No. 211356, September 29, 2014]. A
nuisance per accidens is one which depends upon
certain conditions and circumstances, and its
existence being a question of fact, it cannot be abated
without due hearing thereon in a tribunal authorized to
decide whether such a thing does in law constitute a
nuisance [North Greenhills Association v. Morales,
G.R. No. 222821, August 7, 2017].

Q: What is the Doctrine of Attractive Nuisance?

One who maintains on his premises dangerous
instrumentalities or appliances of a character likely to
attract children in play, and who fails to exercise
ordinary care to prevent children from playing
therewith or resorting thereto, is liable to a child of
tender years who is injured thereby, even if the child is
technically a trespasser in the premises. [Jarco
Marketing Corporation v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No.
129792, December 21, 1999)]
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OBLIGATIONS
Q: What is an obligation?
An obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to do or
not to do. [Art. 1156, NCC]
Q: What is the degree of care required from a debtor
obliged to give something?
Debtor is obliged to take care of the thing with the
proper diligence of a good father of a family or
otherwise known as “Ordinary Diligence”, unless the
law or stipulation requires another standard of care.
[Art. 1163, NCC]
Q: What are the rights of the creditor when the
obligation to deliver arises?
1. Creditor has the right to the fruits from the time
the obligation arises [Art. 1164, NCC]
2. Obligation to deliver determinate thing includes
delivering all its accessions and accessories [Art.
1166, NCC]
3. Creditor may compel the debtor to make the
delivery of a specific thing [Art. 1165, NCC]
4. If thing to be delivered is generic, he may ask that
it shall be complied with at the expense of the
debtor [Art. 1165, NCC]
Q: In obligations to do, under what situations may the
obligation be executed at the cost of the debtor?
1. If obligor fails to do the obligation
2. If obligor does it in a manner that contravenes the
tenor thereof; or
3. When it was poorly done. [Art. 1167, NCC]
Q: What is the consequence when the debtor does
what he is obliged not to do?
It shall be undone at his expense. [Art. 1168, NCC]
Exception: If undoing of the act which was prohibited
is no longer possible, claim for damages is the proper
remedy.
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Q: What is the effect if one of the obligors in
reciprocal obligations should not comply with what is
incumbent upon him?
The power to rescind obligations is implied in
reciprocal ones, in case one of the obligors should not
comply with what is incumbent upon him. The injured
party may choose between the fulfillment and the
rescission of the obligation, with the payment of
damages in either case. He may also seek rescission,
even after he has chosen fulfillment, if the latter should
become impossible. The court shall decree the
rescission claimed, unless there be just cause
authorizing the fixing of a period. This is understood to
be without prejudice to the rights of third persons who
have acquired the thing, in accordance with Articles
1385 and 1388 and the Mortgage Law. [Art. 1191,
NCC]
Q: When does the obligor incur delay (mora
solvendi)?
Those obliged to deliver or to do something incur in
delay from the time the obligee judicially or
extrajudicially demands from them the fulfillment of
their obligation.……...…………………………………...
However, the demand by the creditor shall not be
necessary in order that delay may exist:
1. When the obligation or the law expressly so
declares; or
2. When from the nature and the circumstances
of the obligation it appears that the
designation of the time when the thing is to
be delivered or the service is to be rendered
was a controlling motive for the establishment
of the contract; or
3. When demand would be useless, as when
the obligor has rendered it beyond his power
to perform. [Art. 1169, NCC]
NOTES:
1. Those who in the performance of their
obligations are guilty of fraud, negligence or
delay, and those who in any manner
contravene the tenor thereof, are liable for
damages. [Art. 1170, NCC]
2. As a rule, demand is necessary for delay to
set-in in order to emphasize that the creditor
is not waiving his right. [Art. 1169, NCC]
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Q: What are the requisites of a fortuitous event?
To constitute a fortuitous event, the following
elements must concur:
1. The cause of the unforeseen and unexpected
occurrence or of the failure of the debtor to
comply with his obligation must be
independent of the human will;
2. It must be impossible to foresee the event
that constitutes the caso fortuito or, even if it
can be foreseen, it must be impossible to
avoid;
3. The occurrence must be such as to render it
impossible for the debtor to fulfill his
obligation in a normal manner; and
4. The obligor must be free from any
participation in the aggravation of the injury or
loss resulting to the creditor [Sicam v. Jorge,
G.R. 159617, August 8, 2007]
Q: What are the principal remedies in case of breach?
The Principal Remedies are:
1. Specific Performance - compel delivery of a
specific thing or execution of an act
a. When what is to be delivered is a
determinate thing, the creditor, in addition to
the right granted him by Art. 1170, may
compel the debtor to make the delivery [Art.
1165, NCC]
b. If a person obliged to do something fails to
do it, the same shall be executed at his cost
[Art. 1167, NCC]
2. Substitute Performance - compel delivery of an
indeterminate or generic thing.
a. If the thing is indeterminate or generic, he
may ask that the obligation be complied with
at the expense of the debtor [Art. 1165, NCC]
3. Damages - those who, in the performance of their
obligations, are guilty of fraud, negligence, or
delay and those who in any manner contravene
the tenor thereof, are liable for damages [Art.
1170, NCC]
4. Rescission - the power to rescind the obligations
is implied in reciprocal ones, in case one of the
obligors should not comply with what is
incumbent upon him. [Art. 1191 NCC]
The injured party may choose between the
fulfillment and the rescission of the obligation,
with the payment of damages in either case. He
10
may also seek rescission, even after he has
chosen fulfillment, if the latter should become
impossible. [Art. 1191, NCC]
Q: What are the effects of the fulfillment of a
suspensive condition?
The effects of a conditional obligation to give, once the
condition has been fulfilled shall retroact to the day of
the constitution of the obligation. Nevertheless, when
the obligation imposes reciprocal prestations upon the
parties, the fruits and interests during the pendency of
the condition shall be deemed to have been mutually
compensated. If the obligation is unilateral, the debtor
shall appropriate the fruits and interests received,
unless from the nature and circumstances of the
obligation it should be inferred that the intention of the
person constituting the same was different. [Art. 1187,
NCC]
Q: What are the different cases or instances under the
NCC where the courts are empowered to fix the
duration of a term or period?
The court may fix the term in the following instances:
1. If the obligation does not fix a period, but from its
nature and circumstances it can be inferred that
a period was intended by the parties [Art. 1197
NCC];
2. If the duration of the period depends upon the will
of the debtor [Art. 1197, NCC]; and
3. If the debtor binds himself to pay when his means
permit him to do so. [Art. 1180, NCC]; and
4. When specific periods are provided for in the law.
Q: What are the different cases or instances under the
NCC when the debtor shall lose every right to make
use of the period?
The debtor shall lose every right to make use of the
period:
1. When after the obligation has been contracted,
he becomes insolvent, unless he gives a
guaranty or security for the debt;
2. When he does not furnish to the creditor the
guaranties or securities which he has promised;
3. When by his own acts he has impaired said
guaranties or securities after their establishment,
and when through a fortuitous event they
disappear, unless he immediately gives new ones
equally satisfactory;
 LAST MINUTE TIPS
4. When the debtor violates any undertaking in
consideration of which the creditor agreed to the
period; and
5. When the debtor attempts to abscond. [Art. 1198,
NCC]
Q: What are the rules concerning the choice of
prestation in an alternative obligation?
1. The right of choice belongs to the debtor, unless
it has been expressly granted to the creditor. [Art.
1200, NCC]
2. The debtor shall have no right to choose those
prestations which are impossible, unlawful or
which could not have been the object of the
obligation. [Art. 1200, NCC]
3. The choice shall produce no effect except from
the time it has been communicated. [Art. 1201,
NCC]
4. When the choice has been expressly given to the
creditor, the obligation shall cease to be
alternative from the day when the selection has
been communicated to the debtor. [Art. 1205,
NCC]
Q: What are the rules concerning payment made by
solidary debtors?
1. Payment made by one of the solidary debtors
extinguishes the obligation. If two or more
solidary debtors offer to pay, the creditor may
choose which offer to accept. [Art. 1217, NCC]
2. He who made the payment may claim from his
co-debtors only the share which corresponds to
each, with the interest for the payment already
made. If the payment is made before the debt is
due, no interest for the intervening period may be
demanded. [Art. 1217, NCC]
3. When one of the solidary debtors cannot,
because of his insolvency, reimburse his share to
the debtor paying the obligation, such share shall
be borne by all his co-debtors, in proportion to the
debt of each. [Art. 1217, NCC]
4. Payment by a solidary debtor shall not entitle him
to reimbursement from his co-debtors if such
payment is made after the obligation has
prescribed or become illegal. [Art. 1218, NCC]
11
NOTES:
1. Joint obligation: There are as many number of
obligations as there are number of creditors and
debtors. Hence, each of the debtors is only liable
to his proportionate share of the obligation and
each of the creditors is only entitled to his
proportionate share of the credit.
2. Solidary obligation: Any of the debtors can be
made liable for the entirety of the obligation, and
any of the creditors can demand and receive the
entirety of the right or credit.
3. GENERAL RULE: Obligation is joint. There is
solidarity only when:
1. The obligation expressly so states; or
2. When the law; or
3. The nature of the obligation requires
solidarity. [Art. 1207 NCC]
Q: What are the rules in case remission was made by
the creditor in favor of a solidary debtor?
The remission made by the creditor of the share which
affects one of the solidary debtors does not release the
latter from his responsibility towards the co-debtors, in
case the debt had been totally paid by anyone of them
before the remission was effected. [Art. 1219, NCC]
The remission of the whole obligation, obtained by one
of the solidary debtors, extinguishes the entire
obligation BUT it does not entitle him to reimbursement
from his co-debtors. [Art. 1220, NCC] because he has
not actually paid anything.
Q: How are the obligations extinguished?
1. By payment or performance;
2. By the loss of the thing due;
3. By the condonation or remission of the debt;
4. By the confusion or merger of the rights of creditor
and debtor.
5. By compensation.
6. By novation.
Other causes of extinguishment of obligations, such as
annulment, rescission, fulfillment of a resolutory
condition, and prescription, are governed elsewhere in
the NCC. [Art. 1231, NCC]
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Q: What are the requisites of application of payments:
1. Debtor has two or more debts in favor of one and
the same creditor [Art. 1252, NCC];
2. Obligations must be either in money or any
property of the same kind and quality;
3. All obligations are due and demandable [Art.
1252, NCC];
4. Payment is insufficient to pay all obligations.
Q: What are the special forms of payment?
The special forms of payment are the following:
1. Dation in Payment (dacion en pago): The
transfer of ownership of a thing by the debtor to
the creditor as an accepted equivalent of the
performance of the obligation to pay a sum of
money, and which shall be governed by the law
on sales [Art. 1245, NCC; Ramos v. PNB, G.R.
No. 178218, December 14, 2011];
2. Application of Payment: The designation of the
debt to which the payment must be applied when
the debtor has several obligations of the same
kind in favor of the same creditor and his payment
is not enough to pay all [Art. 1252, NCC];
3. Cession or Assignment: When the debtor
cedes or assigns all of his property for the benefit
of his creditors in order that from the proceeds
thereof, the latter may obtain payment of their
credits [Art. 1255, NCC]; and
4. Consignation and Tender of Payment: The
manifestation made by the debtor to the creditor
of his decision to comply immediately with his
obligation, and the deposit of the object of the
obligation in a competent court in accordance
with the rules prescribed by law after the
unjustified refusal or inability of the creditor to
accept the tender of payment [Art. 1256-1258,
NCC].
Q: What are the requisites of a valid consignation?
1. The debt must be due;
2. The consignation of the obligation had been
made because the creditor to whom tender of
payment was made refused to accept without
just cause [Art. 1256, NCC];
12
3. Previous notice of the consignation had been
given to the persons interested in the
performance of the obligation [Art. 1257, NCC];
4. The amount due was placed at the disposal of the
court [Art. 1258, NCC]; and
5. After the consignation had been made the
persons interested in the fulfillment of the
obligation must be notified thereof [Art. 1258,
NCC].
Q: What is the effect if the thing is lost?
1. An obligation which consists in the delivery of a
determinate thing shall be extinguished if it
should be lost or destroyed without the fault of the
debtor, and before he has incurred in delay. [Art.
1262, NCC]
2. When by law or stipulation, the obligor is liable
even for fortuitous events, the loss of the thing
does not extinguish the obligation, and he shall
be responsible for damages. The same rule
applies when the nature of the obligation requires
the assumption of risk. [Art. 1262, NCC]
3. In an obligation to deliver a generic thing, the loss
or destruction of anything of the same kind does
not extinguish the obligation. [Art. 1263, NCC]
Q: What are the requisites of legal compensation?
1. Each one of the obligors be bound principally, and
that he be at the same time a principal creditor of
the other;
2. Both debts consist in a sum of money, or if the
things due are consumable, they be of the same
kind, and also of the same quality if the latter has
been stated;
3. The two debts be due;
4. They be liquidated and demandable;
5. Over neither of them there be any retention or
controversy, commenced by third persons and
communicated in due time to the debtor. [Art.
1279, NCC]
Q: What are the requisites of novation?
1. A previous valid obligation;
2. An agreement of all parties concerned to a new
obligation;
3. The extinguishment of the old obligation;
4. A valid new obligation;
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Q: What are the kinds of subjective novation?

Subjective novation can either be a change in the person
of the:

1. Debtor
a. Expromission - made not from the
initiative of the debtor or without his
knowledge or against his will [Art. 1293,
NCC] since it consists of a third person’s
assumption of the obligation.
b. Delegacion - debtor offers and creditor
consents to the substitution. [Art. 1293,
NCC]

2. Creditor
a. Conventional Subrogation - requires
consent of the original parties and the
third person
b. Legal Subrogation -
1. When a creditor pays another
creditor who is preferred
2. When a third person pays with
the express or tacit approval of
the debtor
3. When a person interested in the
fulfillment of the obligation pays.
[Art. 1301, NCC]
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CONTRACTS: General Principles, Loans & Mortgages and Interest
Q: What is a contract?
A contract is a meeting of minds between two persons
whereby one binds himself, with respect to the other,
to give something or to render some service. [Article
1305, NCC]
NOTE: If the meeting of minds is not to give something
or render some service, then it is not a contract but an
agreement.
Q: What are the characteristics of a contract?
1. Autonomy - contracting parties may establish
such stipulations, clauses, terms and conditions
as they want or may deem convenient, provided
they are not contrary to law, morals, good
customs, public order, or public policy. [Art. 1306,
NCC];
2. Mutuality - contract binds both parties; its validity
or compliance cannot be left to the will of one of
them. [Art. 1308, NCC];
3. Relativity - contract takes effect between parties,
their assigns and heirs. [Art. 1311, NCC]; and
4. Obligatoriness - contract has the force of law
between contracting parties and should be
complied with in good faith. [Art.1159, NCC]
Q: What are the requisites of a stipulation pour
autrui?
1. There must be a stipulation in favor of a third
person [Art. 1311, NCC];
2. The stipulation must be a part, not the whole, of
the contract [Art. 1311, NCC];
3. The contracting parties must have clearly and
deliberately conferred a favor upon a third
person, not a mere incidental benefit or interest
[Art. 1311, NCC];
4. The third person must have communicated his
acceptance to the obligor before its revocation
[Art. 1311, NCC];
5. Neither of the contracting parties bears the legal
representation or authorization of the third
party. [Ormoc Sugar Cane Planters Assn. Inc. v.
CA, G.R. No. 156660, August 24, 2009]
14
Q: How is consent manifested?
Consent is manifested by the meeting of the offer and
the acceptance upon the thing and the cause which
are to constitute the contract. The offer must be certain
and the acceptance absolute. A qualified acceptance
constitutes a counter-offer. [Art. 1319(1), NCC]
Q: What are the requisites of consent?
1. Meeting of the offer and acceptance [Art. 1319,
NCC];
2. Legal capacity of the parties [Art. 1327, NCC];
3. Must be intelligent, free, spontaneous and real
[Art. 1328-1346, NCC];
Q: What are the requisites of a valid acceptance?
1. It must be unqualified and unconditional [Art.
1319, NCC];
2. It must be directed to the offeror;
3. It must be made with the intention to be bound;
4. It must be made within the proper time; and
5. It must be communicated to and learned by the
offeror.
Q: Who are those who cannot give consent to a
contract?
The following cannot give consent to a contract:
1. Unemancipated minors [Art. 1327, NCC]
2. Insane or demented persons unless they acted
during a lucid interval
3. Deaf-mutes who do not know how to write. [Art.
1327, NCC]
NOTE: Contracts entered into during a lucid interval
are valid. Contracts agreed to in a state of
drunkenness or during a hypnotic spell are voidable.
[Art. 1238, NCC]
Q: What are the vices of consent?
A contract where consent is given through mistake,
violence, intimidation, undue influence, or fraud is
voidable. [Art. 1330, NCC]
1. Mistake - It should refer to the substance of the
thing which is the object of the contract, or to
those conditions which have principally moved
one or both parties to enter into the contract.
Mistake as to the identity or qualifications of one
of the parties will vitiate consent only when such
identity or qualifications have been the principal
cause of the contract. [Art. 1331, NCC]
 LAST MINUTE TIPS
2. Violence - Serious or irresistible force is
employed to wrest consent. [Art. 1335, NCC]
3. Intimidation - One of the contracting parties is
compelled by a reasonable and well-grounded
fear of an imminent and grave evil upon his
person or property, or upon the person or
property of his spouse, descendants or
ascendants, to give his consent. [Art. 1335, NCC]
4. Undue Influence - When a person takes
improper advantage of his power over the will of
another, depriving the latter of a reasonable
freedom of choice. [Art. 1337, NCC]
5. Fraud - When through insidious words or
machinations of one of the contracting parties,
the other is induced to enter into a contract which,
without them, he would not have agreed to. [Art.
1338, NCC]. Failure to disclose facts, when there
is a duty to reveal them, as when the parties are
bound by confidential relations, constitutes fraud.
[Art. 1339, NCC]
Q: What are the rules concerning the object of a
contract?
1. All things which are not outside the commerce of
men, including future things, may be the object of
a contract. All rights not intransmissible may also
be the object of contracts. [Art. 1347, NCC]
2. No contract may be entered into upon future
inheritance except in cases expressly authorized
by law. [Art. 1347, NCC]
3. All services which are not contrary to law, morals,
good customs, public order or public policy may
likewise be the object of a contract. [Art. 1347,
NCC]
4. Impossible things or services cannot be the
object of contracts. [Art. 1348, NCC]
5. The object of every contract must be determinate
as to its kind. The fact that the quantity is not
determinate shall not be an obstacle to the
existence of the contract, provided it is possible
to determine the same, without the need of a new
contract between the parties. [Art. 1349, NCC]
15
Q: Discuss the rule on formality of contracts.
Contracts shall be obligatory, in whatever form they
may have been entered into, provided all of the
essential requisites for their validity are present. [Art.
1356, NCC]
Exceptions:
1. When the law requires that the contract must
be in a certain form in order to be valid; and
2. When the law requires that the contract must
be in a certain form in order to be enforceable.
[Art. 1356, NCC]
Q: When may a party ask for the reformation of the
instrument?
When the true intention of the parties to a perfected
and valid contract are not expressed in the instrument
purporting to embody their agreement by reason of
mistake, fraud, inequitable conduct or accident, one of
the parties may ask for the reformation of the
instrument so that such true intention may be
expressed. [Art. 1359(1), NCC]
Q: When can there be no reformation of an
instrument?
There shall be no reformation in the following cases:
1. Simple donations inter vivos wherein no
condition is imposed
2. Will
3. When the real agreement is void [Art. 1366,
NCC]
When one of the parties has brought an action to
enforce the instrument, he cannot subsequently ask
for its reformation. [Art. 1367, NCC]
Q: What is a contract of loan?
It is a contract entered into by a bailor or lender who
delivers to a borrower or bailee, either a non-
consumable or money or consumable things.
1. Commodatum - something not consumable
so that the borrower or bailee may use the
same for a certain time and return it; or
2. Mutuum or simple loan - money or other
consumable thing, upon the condition that the
same amount of the same kind and quality
shall be paid.
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Q: What are the effects of commodatum, being purely
personal in character?
1. The death of either the bailor or the bailee
extinguishes the contract;
2. The bailee can neither lend nor lease the object
of the contract to a third person. However, the
members of the bailee’s household may make
use of the thing loaned, unless there is a
stipulation to the contrary, or unless there is a
stipulation to the contrary, or unless the nature of
the thing forbids such use. [Art. 1939, NCC]
Q: What may be the object of a contract of mortgage?
Immovable properties and alienable real rights in
accordance with the laws, imposed upon immovables.
On the other hand, movables may be the object of a
chattel mortgage. [Art. 2124, NCC]
Q: Can a mortgaged property still be alienated by the
mortgagor?
Yes. The mortgagor may still sell the mortgaged
property, and any stipulation to the contrary is void.
[Art. 2130, NCC]
Q: What is an equitable mortgage and its essential
requisites?
An equitable mortgage has been defined "as one
which although lacking in some formality, or form or
words, or other requisites demanded by a statute,
nevertheless reveals the intention of the parties to
charge real property as security for a debt, there being
no impossibility nor anything contrary to law in this
intent."[Rockville Excel International Exim Corporation
v. Spouses Culla, G.R. No. 155716, October 2, 2009]
Essential Requisites of an Equitable Mortgage:
1. The parties enter into what appears to be a
contract of sale;
2. The intention is to actually secure an existing
debt by way of mortgage. [Vda. de Delfin v.
Dellota, G.R. No. 14369, January 28, 2008]
16
Q: Enumerate the instances wherein a contract is
presumed to be an equitable mortgage
1. When the price of a sale with right to repurchase
is unusually inadequate;
2. When the vendor remains in possession as
lessee or otherwise;
3. When upon or after the expiration of the right to
repurchase another instrument extending the
period of redemption or granting a new period is
executed;
4. When the purchaser retains for himself a part of
the purchase price;
5. When the vendor binds himself to pay the taxes
on the thing sold;
6. In any other case where it may be fairly inferred
that the real intention of the parties is that the
transaction shall secure the payment of a debt or
the performance of any other obligation.
In any of the foregoing cases, any money, fruits, or
other benefit to be received by the vendee as rent or
otherwise shall be considered as interest which shall
be subject to the usury laws. [Art. 1602, NCC]
Q: What is conventional interest?
It is the interest expressly stipulated in writing by the
parties in a contract of loan. [Art. 1956, NCC]
Q: What are the rules on interest on interest?
General Rule: interest due and unpaid shall not earn
interest. [Art. 1956, NCC]
Exceptions:
1. It shall earn legal interest from the time it is
judicially demanded
2. When there is a stipulation by the parties.
Q: Is the rate of interest subject to any ceiling under
Philippine laws?
No, the rate of interest, including commissions,
premiums, fees and other charges, on a loan or
forbearance of any money, goods, or credits,
regardless of maturity and whether secured or
unsecured, that may be charged or collected by any
person, whether natural or juridical, shall not be
subject to any ceiling prescribed under or pursuant to
the Usury Law, as amended. [Sec. 1, Central Bank
Circular No. 905-82]
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TORTS, QUASI-DELICT
Q: What is the principle of unjust enrichment?
The principle of unjust enrichment states that every
person who, through an act or performance by
another, or any other means, acquires or comes into
possession of something at the expense of the latter
without just or legal ground, shall return the same to
him. [Art. 22, NCC]
Q: What is the concept of liability without fault or
strict liability?
A person may be held liable independent of fault or
negligence. Negligence or intent is immaterial in
awarding damages against the defendant in strict
liability cases.
Q: Explain the No Double Recovery Rule.
No Double Recovery Rule means that the plaintiff
cannot recover damages twice for the same act or
omission of the defendant [Art. 2177, NCC]. A
recovery by the offended party under one remedy,
however, necessarily bars that under the other.
Obviously stemming from the fundamental rule against
unjust enrichment, this is in essence the rationale for
the proscription in our law against double recovery for
the same act or omission. [Rodriguez v. Ponferrada,
G.R. No. 155531-34, July 29, 2005]
Q: What is the Test of Negligence?
The test by which to determine the existence of
negligence in a particular case may be stated as
follows: Did the defendant, in doing the alleged
negligent act, use that reasonable care and caution
which an ordinarily prudent person would have used in
the same situation? If not, then he is guilty of
negligence. [Picart v. Smith, G.R. No. L-12219, March
15, 1918]
Q: Explain the Emergency Rule.
One who suddenly finds himself in a place of danger,
and is required to act without time to consider the best
means that may be adopted to avoid the impending
danger, is not guilty of negligence, if he fails to adopt
what subsequently and upon reflection may have been
a better method, unless the emergency in which he
finds himself is brought about by his own negligence.
[Yu v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. L-44264, September
9, 1988]
17
Q: What is the doctrine of Last Clear Chance?
Where both parties are negligent but the negligent act
of one is appreciably later in point of time than that of
the other, or where it is impossible to determine whose
fault or negligence brought about the occurrence of the
incident, the one who had the last clear opportunity to
avoid the impending harm but failed to do so, is
chargeable with the consequences arising therefrom.
[PRNC v. Vizcara, G.R. No. 190022, February 15,
2012]
Q: What is the doctrine of Res Ipsa Loquitur and its
requisites?
Res ipsa loquitur is literally translated as "the thing or
the transaction speaks for itself." The doctrine res ipsa
loquitur means that "where the thing which causes
injury is shown to be under the management of the
defendant, and the accident is such that in the ordinary
course of things does not happen if those who have
the management use proper care, it affords
reasonable evidence, in the absence of an explanation
by the defendant, that the accident arose from want of
care." [Solidum v. People of the Philippines, G.R. No.
192123, March 10, 2014]
Res ipsa loquitur is a rule of necessity and it applies
where evidence is absent or not readily available,
provided the following requisites are present:
1. the accident was of a kind which does not
ordinarily occur unless someone is negligent;
2. the instrumentality or agency which caused
the injury was under the exclusive control of
the person charged with negligence; and
3. the injury suffered must not have been due to
any voluntary action or contribution on the part
of the person injured. [Malayan Insurance Co.,
Inc. v. Alberto, G.R. No. 194320, February 1,
2012]
Q: Explain the concept of Proximate Cause?
It is that cause which, in the natural and continuous
sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening
cause, produces the injury, and without which the
result would not have occurred [Bataclan v. Medina,
G.R. No. L-10126, October 22, 1957]. Proximate
cause is not necessarily the nearest cause, but rather
the procuring efficient and predominant cause.
[Pennsylvania Fire Ins. Co. v. Sikes, 1946 OK 142,
1946]
 LAST MINUTE TIPS 18

Q: What is contributory negligence? When is it Q: When can an owner of a vehicle be liable for the
present? acts of his driver?
Contributory negligence is conduct on the part of the Article 2180 requires proof of two (2) things: first, an
injured party, contributing as a legal cause to the harm employment relationship between the driver and the
he has suffered, which falls below the standard which owner; and second, that the driver acted within the
he is required to conform for his own protection. scope of his or her assigned tasks. [Caravan Travel
and Tours v. Abejar, G.R. No. 170631, February 10,
There is contributory negligence when the party’s act 2016]
showed lack of ordinary care and foresight that such
an act could cause him harm or put his life in danger. Q: Explain the Registered Owner Rule.
[National Power Corporation v. Casionan, G.R. No. In case of motor vehicle mishaps, the registered owner
165969, November 27, 2008] of the motor vehicle is considered as the employer of
the tortfeasor-driver, and is made primarily liable for
Q: Explain the Doctrine of Imputed Knowledge or the tort committed by the latter. In so far as third
Vicarious Liability. persons are concerned, the registered owner of the
Article 2180 of the Civil Code provides that a person is motor vehicle is the employer of the negligent driver,
not only liable for one's own quasi-delictual acts, but and the actual employer is considered merely as an
also for those persons for whom one is responsible for. agent of the owner. [Filcar Transport Services v.
[Spouses Jayme v. Apostol, G.R. No. 163609, Espinas, G.R No. 174156, June 20, 2012] The
November 27, 2008] appropriate approach is that in cases where both the
registered-owner rule and Article 2180 apply, the
Q: Who are the persons vicariously liable for plaintiff must first establish that the employer is the
damages caused by another person? registered owner of the vehicle in question. [Caravan
1. Father and, in case of his death or incapacity, the Travel and Tours v. Abejar, G.R. No. 170631,
mother, for the damages caused by their minor February 10, 2016]
children who live in their company. [Art. 2180,
NCC] Q: What is the liability if there are two or more
2. Guardians, for damages caused by minors or persons who committed a quasi-delict?
incapacitated persons who are under their Article 2194 states that the responsibility of two or
authority and who live in their company. [Art. more persons who are liable for quasi-delict is solidary.
2180(3), NCC]
3. Owners and managers of an establishment or
enterprise for the damages caused by their
employees in the service of the branches in which
the latter are employed or on the occasion of their
functions. [Art. 2180(4), NCC]
4. Employers for damages caused by their
employees and household helpers acting within
the scope of their assigned tasks, even though
the former are not engaged in any business or
industry. [Art. 2180(5), NCC]
5. State as to the damages caused by special
agents. [Art. 2180(6), NCC]
6. Teachers or heads of establishments of arts and
trades (academic institutions are also included)
for damages caused by pupils and students or
apprentices, so long as they remain in their
custody. [Art. 2180(7), NCC]
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DAMAGES
Q: When may damages be recovered?
To warrant recovery of damages, there must be both
a right of action for a legal wrong inflicted by the
defendant, and damage resulting to the plaintiff
therefrom. Wrong without damage, or damage without
wrong, does not constitute a cause of action, since
damages are merely part of the remedy allowed for the
injury caused by a breach or wrong. [Custodio v. Court
of Appeals, G.R No. 116100, February 8, 1996]
Q: Explain the concept of Damnum Absque Injuria.
It means “damage without injury.” A person who only
exercises his legal rights does no injury. Another
person may have suffered physical hurt or injury, but
for as long as no legal injury or wrong has been done,
there is no liability. If damages result from such
exercise of legal rights, the consequences must be
borne by the injured person alone. The principle does
not apply when the exercise of this right is suspended
or extinguished pursuant to a court order. [Amonoy v.
Gutierrez, G.R No. 140420, February 15, 2001]
Q: May loss of earning capacity be awarded as
damages for the death of a minor child who had no
history of earnings?
Yes. Damages for loss of earning capacity may be
awarded to a minor’s heirs although he had no history
of earnings because compensation of this nature is
awarded not for loss of time or earnings but for loss of
the deceased’s power or ability to earn money. [Sps.
Pereña v. Sps. Zarate, G.R No. 157917, August 29,
2012]
Q: What are the kinds of damages?
Art. 2197 of the New Civil Code provides that damages
may be:
1. Actual or Compensatory;
2. Moral;
3. Nominal;
4. Temperate or Moderate;
5. Liquidated; or
6. Exemplary or Corrective.
19
Q: When may Attorney’s Fees be recovered?
Attorney’s Fees can be recovered in the following
situations:
1. Stipulations;
2. Judicial Costs;
3. When exemplary damages are awarded;
4. Defendant’s act/omission has compelled the
plaintiff to litigate with third persons or to incur
expenses to protect his interest;
5. In criminal cases of malicious prosecution against
the plaintiff;
6. In case of a clearly unfounded civil
action/proceeding against the plaintiff;
7. Defendant acted in gross and evident bad faith in
refusing to satisfy the plaintiff’s plainly valid, just
and demandable claim;
8. Actions for legal support;
9. Actions for recovery of wages of household
helpers, laborers and skilled workers;
10. Actions for indemnity under workmen’s
compensation and employer’s liability laws;
11. In a separate civil action to recover civil liability
arising from a crime;
12. When at least double judicial costs are awarded;
and
13. In any other case where the court deems it just
and equitable that attorney’s fees and expenses
of litigation should be recovered. [Art. 2208, NCC]
Q: What are the conditions for the award of moral
damages?
An award of moral damages would require certain
conditions to be met, to wit:
1. There must be an injury, whether physical, mental
or psychological, clearly sustained by the
claimant;
2. There must be a culpable act or omission
factually established;
3. The wrongful act or omission of the defendant is
the proximate cause of the injury sustained by the
claimant; and
4. The award of damages is predicated on any of
the cases stated in Article 2219. [Estrada v. Phil.
Rabbit Bus Line, Inc., G.R. No. 203902, July 19,
2017]
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Q: Can temperate damages be awarded together with

nominal damages?
No. It is wrong to award, along with nominal damages,
temperate or moderate damages. The two awards are
incompatible and cannot be granted concurrently.
Nominal damages are given in order that a right of the
plaintiff, which has been violated or invaded by the
defendant, may be vindicated or recognized, and not
for the purpose of indemnifying the plaintiff for any loss
suffered by him. Temperate or moderate damages,
which are more than nominal but less than
compensatory damages, on the other hand, may be
recovered when the court finds that some pecuniary
loss has been suffered but its amount cannot, from the
nature of the case, be proved with reasonable certainty
[Art. 2224, NCC]. [Citytrust Banking Corp. v.
Intermediate Appellate Court, G.R. No. 84282, May
27, 1994]

Q: What are the requirements for the imposition of

exemplary damages?
1. Exemplary damages may be imposed by way of
example or correction only in addition, to
compensatory damages and cannot be
recovered as a matter of right, depending upon
the amount of compensatory damages that may
be awarded to the claimant;
2. The claimant must first establish his right to
moral, temperate, liquidated, or compensatory
damages;
3. The wrongful act must be accompanied by bad
faith;
4. The award would be allowed only if the guilty
party acted in a wanton, fraudulent, reckless,
oppressive, or malevolent manner. [Sps. Timado
v. Rural Bank of San Jose Inc., G.R. No. 201436,
July 11, 2016]
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NOTABLE JURISPRUDENCE
HENSON, JR. V. UCPB
G.R. No. 223134, August 14, 2019
Following the principles of subrogation, the insurer only
steps into the shoes of the insured and therefore, for
purposes of prescription, inherits only the remaining
period within which the insured may file an action against
the wrongdoer. To be sure, the prescriptive period of the
action that the insured may file against the wrongdoer
begins at the time that the tort was committed and the
loss/injury occurred against the insured. The
indemnification of the insured by the insurer only allows it
to be subrogated to the former's rights, and does not
create a new reckoning point for the cause of action that
the insured originally has against the wrongdoer.
BPI V. CENTRAL BANK
G.R. No. 197593, Oct. 12, 2020
The test of liability depends on whether or not the
employees, acting in behalf of BSP, were performing
governmental or proprietary functions. The State in the
performance of its governmental functions is liable only
for the tortuous acts of its special agents. On the other
hand, the State becomes liable as an ordinary employer
when performing its proprietary functions.
ABELLA V. ABELLA
G.R. No. 195166, July 8, 2015
Article 1956 of the Civil Code spells out the basic rule that
"[n]o interest shall be due unless it has been expressly
stipulated in writing." However, jurisprudence is clear
about the applicable interest rate if a written instrument
fails to specify a rate. Nacar v. Gallery Frames recognized
that the legal rate of interest has been reduced to 6% per
annum as per BSP Monetary Board Resolution No. 796
dated May 16, 2013. In the absence of an express
stipulation as to the rate of interest that would govern the
parties, the rate of legal interest for loans or forbearance
of any money, goods or credits and the rate allowed in
judgments shall no longer be twelve percent (12%) per
annum but will now be six percent (6%) per annum
effective July 1, 2013.
21
ARCO PULP V. LIM
G.R. No. 206806, June 25, 2014
Moral damages are not awarded as a matter of right but
only after the party claiming it proved that the breach was
due to fraud or bad faith. Article 2219, therefore, is not an
exhaustive list of the instances where moral damages
may be recovered since it only specifies, among others,
Article 21. When a party reneges on his or her obligations
arising from contracts in bad faith, the act is not only
contrary to morals, good customs, and public policy; it is
also a violation of Article 1159. Breaches of contract
become the basis of moral damages, not only under
Article 2220, but also under Articles 19 and 20 in relation
to Article 1159. Moral damages, however, are not
recoverable on the mere breach of the contract.
LARA’S GIFTS & DECORS V.
MIDTOWN INDUSTRIAL SALES
G.R. No. 225433, August 28, 2019
With regard particularly to an award of interest in the
concept of actual and compensatory damages, the rate of
interest, as well as the accrual thereof, is imposed, as
follows:
1. When the obligation is breached, and it consists
in the payment of a sum of money, i.e, a loan or
forbearance of money, the interest due shall be
that which is stipulated by the parties in writing,
provided it is not excessive and unconscionable,
which, in the absence of a stipulated reckoning
date, shall be computed from default until full
payment without compounding any interest
unless compounded interest is expressly
stipulated by the parties, by law or regulation.
2. In the absence of stipulated interest, consisting in
the payment of a sum of money, the rate of
interest on the principal amount shall be the
prevailing legal interest prescribed by BSP, which
shall be computed from default until full payment
without compounding any interest unless
compounded interest is expressly stipulated by
law or regulation.
3. When the obligation, not constituting a loan or
forbearance of money, is breached, an interest on
the amount of damages awarded may be
imposed in the discretion of the court at the
prevailing legal interest prescribed by BSP. No
interest, however, shall be adjudged on
unliquidated claims or damages until the demand
can be established with reasonable certainty.
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PROPERTY ACCESSION CHARTS (Revised February 2020)

By Atty. Francis Joseph H. Ampil
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