CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
do, or not to do.
Obligations and Contracts
(ART. 1156-142)
1987 Philippine Constitution (Saligang Batas ng
Pilipinas) – (A rigid Constitution)
 Supreme Law of the Land
 If the law enacted is in contravention with the
Constitution, then it is as if there is no law
enacted because an unconstitutional law
creates no right, confers no obligation.
Three Branches of the Government
1. Legislative Branch
a) Members of the of the Senate (upper house)
(24 members ONLY)
b) Members of the House of Representatives
(lower house) (350 members more or less)
i. Legislative District Members –
Congressman
ii. Party-list Members
 Bill (House bill or senate bill)
 1st reading, 2nd reading, and 3rd reading
 Bicameral conference committee
 President (approved sign) (inaction – 60 days of
90 days from the time that the law was
transmitted to the president)
 VETO POWER
 2/3 votes of the congress to override veto
 LAW
2. Executive Branch
a) Spearheaded by the President of the Philippines
b) Execute Laws
i. Departments of the cabinet member of
the President/Alter Ego
3. Judicial Branch
a) Courts of Justice (MTC, MCTC, MTCC, RTC, CA
AND SC)
b) INTERPRET THE LAW
Art. 1156
Obligation defined
 An obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to
 It is a juridical relation or a juridical necessity
whereby a person (creditor) may demand from
another (debtor) the observance of a
determinative conduct (giving, doing, or not
doing), and in case of breach, may demand
satisfaction from the assets of the latter (Makati
Stock Exchange v. Campos, G.R. No. 138814,
April 16, 2009)
 It is a juridical necessity because in case non-
compliance, the courts of justice may be called
upon by the aggrieved party to enforce its
fulfillment or, in default thereof, the economic
value that it represents.
 Art. 1156 refers only to civil obligations which
are enforceable in court when breached. It does
not cover natural obligations(Arts. 1423-1430)
because the latter are obligations that cannot
be enforced in court on equity and natural law
and not on positive law (Pineda, 2000)
 GR: The law does not require any form in
obligations arising from contracts for their
validity or binding force (Art. 1356).
 XPNs:
 1) When the form is essential to the validity of
the contract as required by law (Art. 1346);
 2) When the contract is unenforceable unless it
is in a certain form, such as those under Statue
of Frauds as formulated in Art. 1403
ESSENTIAL REQUISITES OF AN OBLIGATION
 A passive subject (called debtor or obligor) or
the person who is bound to the fulfillment of
the obligation; he who has duty.
 An active subject (called creditor or oblige) or
the person who is entitled to demand the
fulfillment of the obligation; he who has right;
 Object prestation (subject matter of the
obligation) or the conduct required to be
observed by the debtor. It may consist in giving,
doing, or not doing. (see Art. 1232). Without
the prestation, there is nothing to perform. In
bilateral obligations (see Art. 1191), the parties
are reciprocally debtors and creditors.
Note: In order to be valid, the object or prestation
must be:
1. Licit or lawful;
2. Possible, physical, & judicially;  (b) Negative personal obligation or
obligation not to do (which naturally
3. Determine or determinable; and
includes obligations “not to give”).
4. Pecuniary value or possible equivalent in money.
BASIS OBLIGATION OBLIGATION OBLIGATION
A Juridical or legal tie (also called efficient TO GIVE TO DO NOT TO DO
cause) or that which binds or connects the parties to As to Consist in Covers the Refraining
what the rendering from doing
the obligation. The tie in an obligation can easily be
obligation DELIVERY of of works or certain acts
determined by knowing the source of the obligation.
consist of a thing to services
ILLUSTRATION the Creditor whether
physical or
 Under a building contract, X bound himself to mental
construct a house for Y for P1, 000,000.00.
 Here, X is the passive subject, Y is the active Examples Sale, Contract for Negative
subject, the building of the house is the object deposit, professiona easement,
pledge, l services restraining
or prestation, and the agreement or contract,
donation, like painting order or
which is the source of the obligation, is the
antichresis modelling, injunction.
juridical tie.
singing, etc.
 Suppose X had already constructed the house
and it was the agreement that Y would pay X
after the construction is finished. X, then,
CLASSIFICATION OF OBLIGATIONS
becomes the active subject and Y, the passive
subject. Creation
OBLIGATION, RIGHT, AND WRONG (cause of action) a. Legal – imposed by law (Art. 1158)
DISTINGUISHED
b. conventional - established by the agreement of the
 (1) Obligation is the act or performance which parties (eg. Contract)
the law will enforce.
 (2) Right, on the other hand, is the power which Nature
a person has under the law, to demand from a. Personal - to do; not to do;
another any prestation
 (3) A wrong (cause of action), according to its b. Real – to give.
legal meaning, it is an act or omission of one Object
party in violation of the legal right or rights of
another, causing injury to the latter; a. Determine/specific – particularly designated or
physically segregated from all others of the same class;
KINDS OF OBLIGATION ACCORDING TO SUBJECT
MATTER. b. Generic – designated merely by its class or genus;

 (1) Real obligation (obligation to give) or that in
which the subject matter is a thing which the
obligor must deliver to the obligee; or
 (2) Personal obligation (obligation to do or not
to do) or that in which the subject matter is an
act to be done or not be done.
There are thus two (2) kinds of personal obligation:
 (a) Positive personal obligation or
obligation to do or render service (see Art.
1167); and
Limited Generic – generic objects confined to a
particular class or source (Tolentino, 2020). (e.g An
obligation to deliver one of my horses).
Existence of burden or condition
Pure – not burdened with any condition or term. It is
immediately demandable (Art. 1179)
Conditional – subject to a condition which may be
suspensive (happening of which shall give rise to the
obligation) or resolutory (happening of which
terminates the obligation) (NCC. 1181.)
Character of responsibility or liability 4. DELICTS; AND

Joint – each debtor is liable only for a part of the whole 5. QUASI-DELICTS.
liability and to each creditor shall belong only a part of
LAW
the correlative rights (8 Manresa 194; NCC. 1207);
When they are imposed by the law itself, e.g., obligation
Solidary – debtor is answerable for the whole of the
to pay taxes; obligation to support one’s family (see Art.
obligation without prejudice to his right to collect from
195, Family Code.), performance of essential marital
his co-debtors the latter’s shares in the obligation
obligations;
(NCC.1207).
QUASI-COTRACTS
Susceptibility of partial fulfillment
When they arise from lawful, voluntary and unilateral
a. Divisible – obligation is susceptible of partial
acts and which are enforceable to the end that no one
performance (NCC. 1223; and 1224);
shall be unjustly enriched or benefited at the expense of
b. Indivisible – obligation is not susceptible of partial another (Art. 2142.), e.g., the obligation to return
performance (NCC. 1225). money paid by mistake or which is not due. (Art. 2154).
In a sense, these obligations may be considered as
Right to choose and substitution
arising from law
a. Alternative – obligor may choose to completely
CONTRACTS
perform one but of the several prestations (NCC. 1199);
When they arise from the stipulation of the parties (Art.
b. Facultative – only one prestation has been agreed
1306), e.g., the obligation to repay a loan by virtue of an
upon, but the obligor may render one in substitution of
agreement, obligation to return what was borrowed
the first one (NCC. 1206).
1. Negotiorum gestio (inofficios manager) – arises
Imposition of penalty
when a person voluntary takes charge of the
Simple – there is no penalty imposed for violation of the management of the business or property of another
terms thereof (NCC. 1226); without any power from the latter (NCC, Art. 2144);

Obligations with a penal clause – obligation which 2. Solutio indebiti (unjust enrichment) – takes place
imposes a penalty for violation of the terms thereof when a person received something from another
(NCC. 1226; Pineda, 2000). without any right to demand for it, and the thing was
unduly delivered to him through mistake (NCC, Art.
Sanction 2154).
a. Civil – gives a right of action to compel their CONTRACT QUASI-CONTRACT
performance; There is a meeting of the There is no consent, but
b. Natural – not based on positive law, but on equity minds or consent; the the same is supplied by
and natural law; does not grant a right of action to parties must have fiction of law; to prevent
deliberately entered into injustice
enforce their performance, but after voluntary
a formal agreement
fulfillment by the obligor, they authorize retention of
what has been delivered rendered by reason thereof.
Crimes or acts or omission punished by law (Delict)
SOURCES OF OBLIGATIONS
when they arise from civil liability which is the
Obligations arise from: consequence of a criminal offense (Art. 1161.), e.g., the
obligation of a thief to return the car stolen by him; the
1. LAW; duty of a killer to indemnify the heirs of his victim
2. CONTRACTS; Art. 100 of the Revised Penal Code provides:
3. QUASI-CONTRACTS;
“Every person criminally liable for a felony is also As to the Guilt must be Guilt may be
civilly liable.” quantum of proved beyond proved by
evidence is reasonable preponderance
The extent of the civil liability arising from crimes is required doubt. of evidence.
governed by the Revised Penal and the Civil Code.

This civil liability includes:  ART. 1158. Obligation derived from law are not
(1) Restitution; presumed. Only those expressly determined in
this Code or in special laws are demandable,
(2) Reparation for the damage caused; and and shall be regulated by the precepts of the
law which established them
(3) Indemnification for consequential damages. (Art.
 If there is conflict between the NCC and special
104, Revised Penal Code.)
law, the latter prevails unless the contrary has
Example: been expressly stipulated in the NCC.
 ART. 1159. Obligations arising from contracts
X stole the car of Y. If X is convicted, the court will order
have the force of law between the contracting
X: (1) to return the car (or to pay its value if it was lost
parties and should be compiled with in good
or destroyed); (2) to pay for any damage caused to the
faith
car; and (3) to pay such other damages suffered by Y as
a consequence of the crime. 1. It must contain all the essential requisites of a
contract (NCC, Art. 1318); and
 QUASI-DELICTS OR TORTS
2. It must not be contrary to law, morals, good
When they arise from damage caused to another
customs, public order, and public policy (NCC, Art.
through as act or omission, there being fault or
1306).
negligence, but no contractual relation exists between
the parties (Art. 2176), e.g., the obligation of the head
of a family that lives in a building or a part thereof to
NATURE AND EFFECTS OF OBLIGATIONS
answer for damages caused by things thrown or falling
from the same (Art. 2193.); the obligation of the  Types of real obligations (to give/to deliver)
possessor of an animal to pay for the damage which it
may have caused 1. Determinate/specific – Particularly designated or
physically segregated from all others of the same
BASIS DELICT QUASI-DELICT class;
As to the kind Presence of Only negligence
of intent criminal or 2. Indeterminate/Generic – is designated merely by
present malicious intent its class or genus;
or criminal
3. Delimited generic – Generic objects confined to a
negligence.
As to the Concerned with Concerned with particular class (Tolentino, 2002); e.g. An obligation
whether public interest private interest to deliver one of my horses.
private or  The obligations of the debtor (in an obligation
public interest
to deliver) depends upon the kind thing
is concerned
involved:
As to the kind Generally, the The act or
of liability act or omission omission gives BASIS SPECIFIC GENERIC
arises gives rise to two rise only to civil What the Deliver the Deliver the
liabilities: liability obligation thing agreed thing which is
criminal and consists of upon (Art. neither of
civil liability. 1165) superior nor
As to Criminal liability The civil liability inferior quality
availability of a is not subject to can be if quality and
compromise a compromise. compromised. circumstances
 have not been
stated by the
parties (Art.
1246)
Required Take care of the If the object is
diligence to be thing with the generic, but the
observed proper diligence source is
of a good father specified or
of a family delimited, the
unless the law obligation is to
requires or preserve the
parties stipulate source.
another
standard of care
(NCC, Art. 1163
What delivery Deliver all Delivery of
comprises of accessions, another thing
accessories, and within the same
fruits of the genus as the
thing even thing promised
though they if such thing us
may not have damaged due to
been lack of care or a
mentioned (Art. general breach
1166). is committed.
Effect of breach Pay damages in Pay damages in
of obligation case of breach case of breach
of obligation by of obligation by
reason of delay, reason of delay,
fraud, fraud,
negligence, negligence,
contravention contravention
of the tenor of the tenor
thereof (ART. thereof (Art.
1170). 1170).
Effect of Fortuitous Obligation is
fortuitous event not
event extinguishes the extinguished
obligation. (genus
nunquam
peruit-genus
never perishes).