PRESCRIPTION

Prescription can either be acquisitive or extinctive. Under the Civil Code, prescription is
a means of acquiring “ownership and other real rights through the lapse of time in the
manner and under the conditions laid down by law. In the same way, rights and
conditions are lost by prescription” (Article 1106).
When a quasi-delict occurs, the plaintiff or the injured party may claim damages against
the respondent or the one who inflicted the injury. In order to claim, the plaintiff must
prove that there was damage to the plaintiff, the respondent was negligent in the act or
omission that caused the damage, and there is a connection of cause and effect
between the negligence and the damage inflicted.
As such, prescription of action can be availed of as one of those defenses in negligence
cases.

WHEN PERIOD COMMENCES

Article 1146 of the Civil Code provides when will presecriptive period commences. It
states that an action for quasi-delict must be instituted within four (4) years and such is
counted from the date of the accident. Thus, the prescriptive period begins from the day
the quasi-delict is committed.

The Supremce Court explained in Kramer, Jr. vs Court of Appeals that the right of
action accrues when there exists a cause of action, and such cause of action consists of
three (3) elements which must concur: a) a right in favor of the plaintiff by whatever
means and under whatever law it arises or is created; b) an obligation on the part of the
defendant to respect such right; and c) an act or omission on the part of such defendant
violative of the right of the plaintiff. Consequently, the period of prescription must be
counted when the last element of commission of an act or omission violative of the right
of the plaintiff, which is the time when the cause of action arises.

DOCTRINE OF RELATIONS OR RELATIONS BACK DOCTRINE

This is a principle in Civil Law as regards the computation of the prescriptive period. It
states that an act done at one time is considered by fiction of law to have been done at
some antecedent period. It is a doctrine which, although of equitable origin, has a well-
recognized application to proceedings at law; a legal fiction invented to promote the
ends of justice or prevent injustice and occurrence of injuries where otherwise there
would be no remedy.
The doctrine, when invoked, must have connection with actual fact, must be based on
some antecedent lawful rights. (Allied Banking Corporation vs. Court of Appeals, 178
SCRA 526 [1989])
It is believed that the doctrine may be applied under certain exceptional circumstances.
Hence, the doctrine of relations or relations back doctrine should only be applied where
the injury was discovered long after the accident. The prescriptive period should start to
run only upon the discovery of the injury committed unto the offended party. Therefore,
even if the accident is committed long before and the injury becomes apparent only
after several years, then the prescriptive period should commence to run only after such
discovery of the injury.
For example, a doctor negligently transfused blood to a patient that was contaminated
with HIV. If the effect became apparent only after five (5) years, the four (4) year
prescriptive period should commence only when it was discovered after five (5) years
and not when the negligent act was committed. At the very least, the filing of an action
after the expiration of the prescriptive period should, by fiction of law, be considered as
having been filed within said period.

EFFECT OF PRESCRIPTION ON OTHER SOURCES OF OBLIGATIONS

The Civil Code of the Philippines specifies the sources of obligation, thus:

(1) Law;

(2) Contract;

(3) Quasi-Contracts;

(4) Acts or omissions punishable by law; and

(5) Quasi-delicts (Art. 1157).

The Civil Code also specifically provides that:

(A) The prescription of action based on obligations created by law [1] and
contracts [2] is ten years (Art. 1144);

(B) The prescription of actions based on quasi-contract [3] prescribes in six years
(Art. 1145); and

(C) The prescription of civil actions based on quasi-delict [5] prescribes in four
years (Art. 1146).

Except for civil actions based on defamation (Art. 1147), the Civil Code of the
Philippines does not specifically provide for a prescriptive period for obligations arising
from delict [4]. However there is the catch-all provision of Article 1149, which provides
that:

All other actions whose periods are not fixed in this Code or in other laws must be
brought within five years from the time the right of action accrues.