LYCEUM BUSINESS LAW 11/

OF ALABANG
Km.30, National Road., Tunasan, Muntinlupa City, Philippines
THE LAW ON OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS
Tel. Nos. (02)856-93-23 / (02)856-9246 / (02)403-8248

WEEKS 3
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TITLE I – OBLIGATIONS
GENERAL PROVISONS (Articles 1156-1162)
Article 1156. An obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to do or not to do. (n)
Meaning/ concept of obligation.
Obligation is taken from the Latin word obligatio, which means tying or binding. It is a tie
or bond where one is mandated by law to perform the following acts:

1. To give deliver a movable or immovable things.

2. To do or perform services; and
3. Not to do or not to perform an obligation which is forbidden.

Civil Code definition of obligation as a juridical necessity.

The obligation referred here is the civil obligation that has a juridicial necessity which
means that those obligations which if not performed by one party, the other party (who
is aggrieved) may go to court to enforce the obligation or simply to hold such person to
pay for damages. In contrast, with the natural obligation, which has no legal basis and
not actionable before the courts because it is based on fairness, equity & justice.
Therefore, not all obligations are enforceable before the courts. For example, it is the
obligation of every students to religiously attend their classes at school but supposing
they were not, can their parents sue their children for not attending their classes? The

PROF. RAMIR R. MALANOG. AB., LLB. “SERVE THE STUDENTS!”

 LYCEUM BUSINESS LAW 11/
OF ALABANG
Km.30, National Road., Tunasan, Muntinlupa City, Philippines
THE LAW ON OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS
Tel. Nos. (02)856-93-23 / (02)856-9246 / (02)403-8248

answer is no, because that obligation is not a civil obligation but a natural obligation.

Elements or essential requisites of an obligation.

These are the following elements or essential requisites of an obligation, and to wit:

1. Passive subject - usually called debtor or obligor, a person who has the duty or bound
to fulfill the obligation;

2. Active subject – usually called creditor or obligee, a person who has the authority
and/ or right to demand for the fulfillment of the obligation;

3. Object or Prestation – usually the subject matter of the obligation that consists of
giving, doing, not doing or not performing; and

4. Juridical or Legal Tie – usually called efficient cause that binds or connects the parties
to the obligation. The said tie is based on sources of obligations like: law, contracts,
quasi-contracts; acts or ommissions punished by law; and quasi-delicts or torts under
Article 1157 of Civil Code.

Example:
Under a car engine repair contract. Amir bound himself to repair the car engine of
Manny in the amount of 50K Philippine Pesos.

Here, Amir is the passive subject, Manny is the active subject, the repair of car engine is
the object or prestation, and the agreement or contract which is the source of
obligation, is the juridical tie.

Suppose, Amir had already repaired the car engine of Manny and it was the agreement
that Manny would pay Amir after the repair is done, Amir then becomes the active
subject and Manny the passive subject.

Form of Obligations.
The form of obligations may be created and shown in the following ways:

1. Obligations may be oral, or in writing, or partly oral and partly in writing;

2. Obligations arisng from other sources of obligations under Article 1157, Civil Code, do
not have any form at all; and

3. Obligations, as a general rule, do not require any form arising from contracts in order
to be valid under Article 1356 , Civil Code. Exceptions, under the law in Statute of Frauds:

PROF. RAMIR R. MALANOG. AB., LLB. “SERVE THE STUDENTS!”

 LYCEUM BUSINESS LAW 11/
OF ALABANG
Km.30, National Road., Tunasan, Muntinlupa City, Philippines
THE LAW ON OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS
Tel. Nos. (02)856-93-23 / (02)856-9246 / (02)403-8248

1. Obligations in contract of sale/ sell, transfer, and donations of immovable properties.

Examples: land, houses, buildings, & others;

2. Obligations in contract that cannot be completed in less than one year;

3. Obligations in contract of lease for a year or more; and

4. Any promises made in connection to a contract of marriage, including gifts like,

engagement ring & others.

The said exceptions under the law in statute of frauds in general must be in the form of
writing, signed by the parties, and duly notarized in order to be valid and can be used as
evidenced. The main purpose is to avoid & prevent fraud and/ or injury in compliance of
obligations.

Distinctions of obligation, right and wrong.

1. Obligation – is the act or performance which the law will impose or enforce;

2. Right – in contrast, it is the power given by law to a person to demand to another of

any objects or prestation.

3. Wrong – is an act or ommissions of one party which will be the basis or cause of
action to demand to another in violation of legal rights or damage to another, like non-
compliance of a legal obligations, and the word injury is also a wrongful violation of the
legal rights of another.

The essential elements of a legal wrong or injury are:

1. That there is legal right in favor of the creditor/ obligee/ plaintiff;
2. That there is a correlative legal obligation violated by the debtor/ obligor/ defendant;
and
3. That there is an act or omission by the debtor/ obligor in violation of obligation and
rights resulting damage or injury to the creditor/ obligee.

Example:
In the previous given example, Manny has the legal right to have his car engine to be
repaired by Amir who has the correlative legal obligation to repair the car engine under
their contract.

While, Amir has the right to be paid the agreed compensation provided the car engine is
repaired in accordance with the agreed terms and conditions of the contract. The failure
of either party to comply with the said contract gives the other a cause of action for the
enforcement of his right and/ or recovery of indemnity for the loss, damaged or injury
caused to him for the violation of his right.

PROF. RAMIR R. MALANOG. AB., LLB. “SERVE THE STUDENTS!”

 LYCEUM BUSINESS LAW 11/
OF ALABANG
Km.30, National Road., Tunasan, Muntinlupa City, Philippines
THE LAW ON OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS
Tel. Nos. (02)856-93-23 / (02)856-9246 / (02)403-8248

References:
1. Textbook on The Law on Obligations and Contracts, 2014,
By Atty. Hector S. De Leon, and Atty. Hector M. De Leon Jr.,
Published and Distributed by REX Book Store;

2. https://youtu.be/zP12GHW6UJA;

3. All images were taken from Google;

4. Civil law Reviewer, 20th Edition 2006,

By: Desiderio P. Jurado, Asscociate Justice, Court of Appeals;

5. Black’s Law Dictionary; and

6. Personal notes/ ideas of Professor Ramir R. Malanog, AB., LLB.

PROF. RAMIR R. MALANOG. AB., LLB. “SERVE THE STUDENTS!”