PERSONS AND FAMILY RELATIONS REVIEWER CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES (R.A. 386) Art 1.

This Act shall be known as the Civil Code of the Philippines E.O. 48 of March 20, 1947 Roxas Code Commission Dr. George Bacobo (chairman) January 26, 1949 (passed by Congress)

Art. 2. Laws shall take effect after 15 days following the completion of their publication in the Official Gazette, unless it is otherwise provided. This Code shall take effect 1 year after publication. Aug. 30, 1950 (took effect)

EO 200 (Aquino) laws to be effective must be published either in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the country. (Taada v Tuvera) publication not to be in Official Gazette because of its erratic release and limited readership) Intended to enable people to become familiar with the statute Must be in full Publication is an indispensable requirement, absence of which will unless otherwise provided (refers to 15day period, not publication

render the law ineffective.

Art. 3. Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith. Art. 4. Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is provided Law looks to the future. Instances when a law may be given a retroactive effect: When the law expressly provides for retroactivity (insofar as it applies only to mandatory and prohibitory laws

does not prejudice or impair vested or acquired rights in accordance with the Civil Code or other laws) Curative or remedial (curing defects or adding to the means of enforcing existing obligations). RULE: If the irregularity consists in doing some act, or doing it in the mode which the legislature might have made material by an express law, it may do so by a subsequent one. Penal in character and favorable to the accused. (not a habitual delinquent if w/in 10 years from date of release or last conviction of a crime, he is found guilty of any said crimes a third time or oftener.)

Art. 5. Acts executed against the provisions of mandatory and prohibitory laws shall be void, except when the law itself authorizes their validity. Mandatory Laws omission of which renders the proceeding or acts to which it relates generally illegal or void. Example: prescriptive periods Prohibitory Lawscontain positive prohibitions and are couched in the negative terms importing that the act required shall not be done otherwise than designated. Example:NO However, if the law expressly provides for the validity of acts committed in violation of a mandatory or prohibitory provision of a statute, such act shall be considered valid or enforceable. Art. 6. Rights may be waived, unless the waiver is contrary to law, public policy,morals or good customs, or prejudicial to a third person with a right recognizedby law. Waiver intentional relinquishment of a known right; not presumed but must be clearly and convincingly shown, either by express stipulation or acts admitting no other reasonable explanation A right to be validly waived, must be in existence at the time of the waiver, and must be exercised by a duly capacitated person actually possessing the right to make the waiver. (presupposes that the party has knowledge of its rights, but chooses not to assert them) Art. 7. Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their violation or nonobservance shall not be excused by disuse, or custom, or practice to the contrary. When the courts declare a law to be inconsistent with the Constitution, the former shall be void and the latter shall govern. Administrative or executive acts, orders and regulations shall be valid only when they are not contrary to the laws or the Constitution. Repeal legislative act of abrogating through a subsequent law the effects of a previous statute or portions thereof. May be either express or implied. Art. 8.Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution shall form part of the legal system of the Philippines. Judicial decisions although in themselves not laws, assume the same authority as the statute itself. Constitute evidence of what the law means. legis interpretatio legis vim obtinet interpretation placed upon the written law by a competent court has the force of law. SC decisions authoritative and precedent-setting Inferior courts decisions and Court of Appeals merely persuasive Apiag vs. Cantero (judge entered into 2nd marriage without having his first void marriage judicially declared a nullity, not a basis for immorality) at that time, there was no need for judicial declaration of nullity Wiegel v Sempio Dy case where the Supreme Court declared that there was a need for a declaration of nullity of a void marriage Art. 9. No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the laws.

Ninguno non deue enriquecerse tortizeramente con dano de otroW hen the statutes are silent or ambiguous, this is one of those fundamentalprinciples which the courts invoke in order to arrive at a solution thatwould respond to the vehement urge of conscience. Justice Holmes Do and must legislate to fill in the gaps in the law, because the mind of the legislator, like all human beings, is finite and therefore cannot envisage all possible cases to which the law may apply. Nor has the human mind the infinite capacity to anticipate all situations. Art. 10. In case of doubt in the interpretation and application of laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail. Construction and interpretation come only after it has been demonstrated that application is impossible or inadequate without them. Art. 11. Customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall not be countenanced. Art. 12. A custom must be proved as a fact, according to the rules of evidence. Custom rule of conduct formed by repetition of acts, uniformly observed (practiced) as a social rule, legally binding and obligatory. Juridical custom can supplement statutory law or applied in the absence of such statute. Social custom cant supplement stat law or applied in the absence of statute. Custom, even if proven, cannot prevail over a statutory rule or even a legal rule enunciated by the SC Art. 13. When the law speaks of years, months, days or nights, it shall be understood that years are of 365 days each; months, of 30 days; days, of 24 hours; and nights from sunset to sunrise. If months are designated by their name, they shall be computed by the number of days which they respectively have. In computing a period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last day included. If the extra day in a leap year is not a day of the year, because it is the 366th day, then to what year does it belong? Certainly, it must belong to the year where it falls and, therefore, the 366 days constitute one year. Art. 14. Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be obligatory uponall who live or sojourn in the Philippine territory, subject to the principles of publicinternational law and to treaty stipulations. Citizens and foreigners are subject to all penal laws. Will even attach regardless whether or not a foreigner is merely sojourning in Phil territory BUT they may however be immune from suit, and therefore, cannot be criminally prosecuted in the Philippines in certain cases where the Philippine government has waived its criminal jurisdiction over them on the basis of the principles of public international law and treaty stipulations 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations provided that the person

of the diplomatic agent shall be inviolable and he shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. He shall enjoy immunity from criminal jurisdiction of the receiving state. Art. 15. Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition andlegal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even thoughliving abroad. Nationality Rule Tenchavez v Escano the only absolute divorce recognized is one of the alien spouse. Filipino spouse can be said to have committed concubinage (husband) or adultery (wife).