PERSONS

LECTURE NOTES ON CIVIL LAW

Professor Ruben F. Balane
Person 
 Any physical or juridical being susceptible
of rights and obligations, or of being the
subject of legal relations
Persons vs. Things
 A person is the subject of legal relations
 A things is the object of legal relations
 Article 37
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,
which is the power to do acts with legal
effect, is acquired and may be lost.
 2 component elements of
capacity:
1. Juridical capacity
There are no degrees of juridical capacity.
Juridical capacity is the same in
every person. No one has more juridical
capacity than others. It is inherent in natural
persons. On the other hand, it arises in
artificial persons when such artificial persons
are created.
2. Capacity to act
Nobody has 100% capacity to act. The law
imposes restrictions on capacity to act. As
long as one has contractual capacity (a.k.a.
full civil capacity) one is near 100% capacity
to act. ―Full civil capacity‖ is not
really 100% but close to it. With
contractual capacity, one is generally able to
perform contracts and dispose of property.
 Article 38
Minority, insanity or imbecility, the state
of being a deaf-mute, prodigality and civil
interdiction are mere restrictions on
capacity to act, and do not exempt the
incapacitated person from certain
obligations, as when the latter arise from
his acts or from property relations, such
as easements.
  Article 39
The following circumstances, among
others, modify or limit capacity to act:
age, insanity, imbecility, the state of
being a deaf-mute, penalty, prodigality,
family relations, alienage, absence,
insolvency and trusteeship. The
consequences of these circumstances
are governed in this Code, other codes,
the Rules of Court, and in special laws.
  Article 39
Capacity to act is not limited on account
of religious belief or political opinion. A
married woman, twenty-one years of age
or over, is qualified for all acts of civil
life, except in cases specified by law.
 Articles 38 and 39 are really the
same thing. They are redundant.
Articles 38 and 39 prevent incapacitated
persons from entering into contractual
obligations only. 
But even though an insane person cannot
be thrown in jail for a criminal act, the insane
person is still civilly liable (delict). 
An incapacitated person must still pay
income tax if income is earned.
Although Articles 38 and 39 don‘t mention it,
incapacitated persons may acquire
rights. For example, they have the right to
accept donations or to succeed.
The enumeration in Articles 38 and 39 is
not exclusive. There are others spread
throughout the code. (i.e., a lawyer cannot
buy property in litigation - Article 1491(5))
 Natural Persons
Art. 40. 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)
Art. 41. 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
twenty-four hours after its complete
delivery from the maternal womb.
 Principles:
1. For personality to be acquired one must be
born
2. Once birth occurs, personality for favorable
purposes retroacts to the moment
of conception
• To be born means to be alive after the fetus
is completely separated from the mother‘s
womb by cutting off the umbilical cord.
• General Rule:
To be born, it is enough that the fetus is
alive when the umbilical cord is cut. 
• Exception:
If the intra-uterine life is less than 7 months,
it must live for at least 24 hours, before it
is considered born (There is no distinction
as to how the child dies – whether natural,
accidental, etc.)
 Article 42
Civil personality is extinguished by
death. The effect of death upon the rights
and obligations of the deceased is
determined by law, by contract and by
will.
• Article 42 deals with the extinguishment of
civil personality
• Death is not defined in the Civil Code. Not
even doctors know precisely when death
occurs. There are many theories.
• The fact of death is important because it
affects civil personality and legal relations.
The main effect of death is readily seen in
succession. Death is also relevant to labor
law and insurance.
 Article 43
If there is a doubt, as between two or
more persons who are called to succeed
each other, as to which of them died first,
whoever alleges the death of one prior to
the other, shall prove the same; in the
absence of proof, it is presumed that
they died at the same time and there
shall be no transmission of rights from
one to the other.
RULE 131, RULES OF COURT Sec. 3.
Disputable presumptions.
— The following presumptions are
satisfactory if uncontradicted, but may be
contradicted and overcome by other evidence:
xxxx
(jj) That except for purposes of succession,
xxxx the survivorship is determined from the
probabilities resulting from the strength and
age of the sexes, according to the following
rules:
1. If both were under the age of fifteen years,
the older is deemed to have survived;2. If
both were above the age of sixty, the
younger is deemed to have survived;3. If one
is under fifteen and the other above sixty, the
former is deemed to havesurvived;4. If both
be over fifteen and under sixty, and the sex be
different, the male is deemed to have
survived; if the sex be the same, the older;5. If
one be under fifteen or over sixty, and the
other between those ages, the latter is deemed
to have survived.
The Rules of Court shall apply where:
1. The issue does not involve succession
but something else (i.e., insurance,
suspensive conditions); and
2.The persons perish in the same calamity.
Article 43 shall apply where:
1.The case involves succession; and
2.The persons do not perish in the same
calamity. 
If the conditions in the Rules of Court or Article
43 do not concur, do not apply either. 

Problem: What if succession is involved and

the persons perish in the same calamity? Most
commentators say Article 43 will prevail.
 Reading Assignment
Juridical Persons (Art. 44 – Art. 50)