I.
OBLIGATIONS
Art. 1156 (New Civil Code/NCC)
An obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to do or not
to do.
“to give” – a prestation which consists in the delivery of
a movable or an immovable thing in order to create a
real right, or for the use of the recipient, or for its
simple possession, or in order to return to its owner.
“to do” – including all kinds of work or service
A right is a claim or title to an interest in anything
whatsoever that is enforceable by law.
It is a power, privilege, or immunity guaranteed under a
constitution, statue, or decisional law, or recognized as
a result of long usage, constitutive of a legally
enforceable claim of one person against the other.
For every right enjoyed by any person, there is a
corresponding obligation on the part of another person
to respect such right.
More complete definition by Arias Ramos (accdg. To
Justice J.B.L Reyes)
An obligation is a juridical relation whereby a person
(creditor) may demand from another (debtor) the
observance of a determinative conduct (give, do or not
do), and in case of breach, may demand satisfaction
from the assets of the latter.
A civil action is one by which a party sues another for
the enforcement or protection of a right, or the
prevention or redress of a wrong.
A cause of action is the act or omission by which a party
violates a right of another.
A complaint is the initial written statement that starts a
civil action. Its function is to give the defendant notice
of the nature and basis for the claim. It contains the
written statements alleging the plaintiff’s claim or cause
or causes of action.
A plaintiff is the party who brings a civil suit in a
court of law. The person who files the complaint
in court.
A defendant is a person sued in a civil
proceeding. The person who will be required to
answer the complaint in court.
A real obligation (obligation to give) is the obligation of
the debtor or obligor to deliver a thing, movable or
immovable, to the creditor or obligee for the purpose of
transferring ownership or for the use or possession of
the recipient.
Kinds of Real Obligation
1. Determinate or Specific Real Obligation
The obligation of the debtor or obligor to deliver a
determinate or specific thing to the creditor or obligee.
“determinate” – when it is particularly designated or
physical segregated from all other of the same class.
(e.g. obligation to deliver a car with plate number ABC123)
2. Indeterminate or Generic Real Obligation
The obligation of the debtor or obligor to deliver an
indeterminate or generic thing to the creditor or
obligee.
“indeterminate” – when it is designated merely by its
class or genus without nay particular designation or
physical segregation from all others of the same class.
(e.g. obligation to deliver five tables)
Personal Obligation (obligation to do or not to do)
Kinds of Personal Obligation
1. Positive Personal Obligation (obligation to do)
This is the obligation of the debtor or obligor to perform
some work or service for the creditor or obligee. (eg. the
obligation of x to repair the bicycle of y)
2. Negative Personal Obligation (obligation not to
do)
This is the obligation of the debtor or obligor not to
perform some act in favor of the creditor or obligee.
(e.g. the obligation not to construct an extension on a house as per
agreement in a contract)
Essential Elements of an Obligation
1. Passive subject or debtor or obligor – the
person from whom the obligation is juridically
demandable. He is the person who has the
obligation to give, to do, or not to do.
 2. Active subject or creditor or obligee – the
person has the right to demand the fulfillment
of the obligation. He is the person who has the
right to demand compliance of the obligation to
give, to do, or not to do.
3. Object – the fact, prestation or service. It is the
particular conduct of the debtor or obligor
which may consist in giving, doing, or not doing
something. (prestation – the object of an obligation,
and it is the conduct required by the parties to do or not to
do, or to give.)
4. Juridical or legal tie or efficient cause or
vinculum juris – it is which creates the relation
between the passive subject or obligor and the
active subject or obligee.
The cause is the vinculum juris or juridical tie
that essentially binds the parties to the
obligation. This linkage between the parties is a
binding relation that is the result of their
bilateral actions, which gave rise to the
existence of the contract.
Art 1157. Sources of Obligation
Obligations arise from:
1. Law
2. Contracts
3. Quasi-Contracts
4. Acts or omissions punished by law
5. Quasi-delicts
Consequently, an obligation imposed on a person,
whether natural or juridical, and the corresponding
right granted to another, must originate from either or a
combination of these sources.
Thus, a Complaint or Petition filed by a person claiming
a right to the Office of the President of this Republic,
but without stating the source of his purported right,
cannot be said to have sufficiently stated a cause of
action. Also, a person claiming to be the owner of a
parcel of land cannot merely state that he has a right to
the ownership thereof but must likewise assert in the
Complaint either a mode of acquisition of ownership or
at least a certificate of title in his name.
*A practice or custom is, as a general rule, not a source
of a legally demandable or enforceable right.
A law is a rule of conduct, just, obligatory, promulgated
by legitimate authority, and of common observance and
benefit.
(e.g. obligation arising from law - RA 623 prohibits, among others,
the filling up of the registered bottles of manufacturers, bottlers or
sellers. Exemption for manufacturers of sisi, bagoong, patis and
similar native products.)
A contract is a meeting of minds between two persons
whereby one binds himself, with respect to the other,
to give something or to render some service.
Stages of Contract
a. Negotiation or Preparation – covers the period
from the time the prospective contracting
parties indicate interest in the contract to the
time the contract is concluded (perfected).
b. Perfection – takes place upon the concurrence
of the essential elements thereof.
c. Consummation – begins when the parties
perform their respective undertakings under
the contract culminating in the extinguishment
thereof.
*Until the contract is perfected, it cannot, as an
independent source of obligation, serve as a binding
juridical relation.
It is fundamental that a contract is the law between the
parties.
Article 1159 of the NCC provides that obligations arising
from contracts have the force of law between the
contracting parties and should be complied with in good
faith.
Unless the stipulations in a contract are contrary to law,
morals, good customs, public order or public policy, the
same are binding as between the parties.
It is a general principle of law that no one may be
permitted to change his mind or disavow and go back
upon his own acts, or to proceed contrary thereto, to
the prejudice of the other party. Likewise, it is settled
that if the terms of the contract clearly express the
intention of the contracting parties, the literal meaning
of the stipulations would be controlling.
It is settled that in culpa contractual, the mere proof of
the existence of the contract and the failure of its
compliance justify, prima facie, a corresponding right of
relief. Culpa contractual means the negligence in the
performance of a contract.
Certain lawful, voluntary and unilateral acts give rise to
the juridical relation of quasi-contract to the end that
no one shall be unjustly enriched or benefited at the
expense of another.
Conditions of unjust enrichment
Article 22 of NCC
1. A person is unjustly benefited
2. Such benefit is derived at the expense of or to
the damage of another.
Kinds of Quasi-Contracts
1. Negotiorum Gestio
Whoever voluntarily takes charge of the agency or
management of the business or property of another,
without any power from the latter, is obliged to
continue the same until the termination of the affair
and its incidents, or to require the person concerned to
substitute him, if the owner is in a position to do so.
There is no Negotiorum Gestio in either of these
instances:
a. When the property of business is not neglected
or abandoned
b. If in fact the manager has been tacitly
authorized by the owner.
2. Solutio Indebiti
If something is received when there is no right to
demand it, and it was unduly delivered through mistake,
the obligation to return it arises.
For the extra-contractual obligation of solutio indebiti to
arise, the following requisites must be proven:
a. The absence of a right to collect the excess
sums
b. The payment was made by mistake
3. Other Quasi-Contracts
Those support given by strangers as enumerated under
article 2164 to 2175 of the New Civil Code.
Delict or also known as “Acts or Omissions Punished by
Law” is a violation of the law; especially, a wrongful act
or omission giving rise to a claim for compensation.
Every person criminally liable for a felony is also civilly
liable.
Civil Liabilities in Delict
1. Restitution
The restitution of the thing itself must be made
whenever possible, with allowance for any
deterioration, or diminution of value as determined by
the court.
The thing itself shall be restored, even though it be
found in the possession of a third person who has
acquired it by lawful means, saving to the latter his
action against the proper person, who may be liable to
him.
This provision is not applicable in cases in which the
thing has been acquired by the third person in the
manner and under the requirements which, by law, bar
an action for its recovery.
2. Reparation of the damage caused
The court shall determine the amount of damage,
taking into consideration the price of the thing,
whenever possible, and its special sentimental value to
the injured party, and reparation shall be made
accordingly.
3. Indemnification for consequential damages
It shall include not only those caused the injured party,
but also those suffered by his family or by a third person
by the reason of the crime.
Whoever by act or omission causes damage to another,
there being fault or negligence, is obliged to pay for the
damage done. Such fault or negligence, if there is no
pre-existing contractual relation between the parties, is
called a quasi-delict.
Quasi-delict (Quasi Ex-delicto) is the equivalent of the
term “tort” (Anglo-American law). It is also known as
“culpa-aquiliana.”
Elements of Negligence
 1. The fault or negligence of the defendant
2. The damage suffered or incurred by the plaintiff
3. The relation of cause and effect between the
fault or negligence of the defendant and the
damage incurred by the plaintiff.
Kinds of Negligence
Civil Negligence:
1. Culpa Aquiliana or Quasi-Delict – negligence
resulting from the failure to observe the
required diligence which causes damage to
another person.
2. Culpa Contractual – negligence in the
performance of a pre-existing contract.
encompasses, among other things, and honest
belief, the absence of malice and the absence of
design to defraud or to seek and
unconscionable advantage.
Contracting parties may freely stipulate their duties and
obligations in their contract which would be binding on
them. So that if it’s not contrary to law, morals, good
customs, public order, or public policy, the agreement
entered into between said parties must be respected
and given the force of law between them.

Criminal Negligence:

3. Culpa Criminal – negligence which results in the

commission of a crime.

Delict vs Quasi-Delict

Delict
Wrong committed
against the State.
Criminal intent is
necessary for the
existence of liability, as a
rule.
Applicable only when
there is a penal law
penalizing it.
Requires proof beyond
reasonable doubt.
Employer’s liability is
subsidiary
Quasi-Delict
Wrong committed
against a person.
Criminal intent is not
necessary.
Actionable in any act or
omission wherein fault or
negligence intervenes.
Required preponderance
of evidence.
Employer’s liability is
primary.

Art. 1158. Obligations derived from law are not

presumed. Only those expressly determined in this
Code or in special laws are demandable and shall be
regulated by the precepts of the law which established
them; and as to what has not been foreseen, by the
provisions of this Book. (1090)

Art. 1159. Obligations arising from contracts have the

force of law between the contracting parties and should
be complied with in good faith.

Good Faith

An intangible and abstract quality with no

technical meaning or statutory definition, and it