RFBT 1 – Law on Obligations and Contracts 12

TITLE I: OBLIGATIONS (Arts. 1156-1304.) – Chapter 3.5: Divisible and Indivisible Obligations

CHAPTER 3: DIFFERENT KINDS OF OBLIGATIONS

Divisible and Indivisible Obligations
Art. 1223. The divisibility or indivisibility of the things that are
the object of obligations in which there is only one debtor and
only one creditor does not alter or modify the provisions of
Chapter 2 of this Title.
Art. 1224. A joint indivisible obligation gives rise to indemnity
for damages from the time anyone of the debtors does not
comply with his undertaking. The debtors who may have been
ready to fulfil their promises shall not contribute to the
indemnity beyond the corresponding portion of the price of the
thing or of the value of the service in which the obligation
consists.
Example Scenario:
1. X, Y, and Z, solidary debtors, are obliged to deliver to
C a specific cat. Consider the following situations:
a. The cat was struck by a lightning.
b. Through X’s fault, the cat was killed.
c. When the obligation was due, C demanded
delivery but no one was able to deliver the said
cat. After a few days, the cat was struck by a
lightning.
Art. 1225. For the purposes of the preceding articles,
obligations to give defi nite things and those which are not
susceptible of partial performance shall be deemed to be
indivisible.
When the obligation has for its object the execution
of a certain number of days of work, the accomplishment of
work by metrical units, or analogous things which by their
nature are susceptible of partial performance, it shall be
divisible.
However, even though the object or service may be
physically divisible, an obligation is indivisible if so provided
by law or intended by the parties.
In obligations not to do, divisibility or indivisibility
shall be determined by the character of the prestation in each
particular case.