Law

Any rule of action or system of uniformity

General division:

Those promulgated and enforced by the state and those which are not.

Promulgated by the state: State Law (also known as Civil Law, Positive Law, Municipal Law, Imperative
Law)

Not promulgated:

Divine Law – Law of religion and faith

Natural Law – Divine inspiration of man in the sense of justice, fairness, and righteousness. (Involves
conscience and heart; alam mo na tama to or mali to even without theories)

Moral Law – Totality of norms of goods and right conduct in a community.

Physical Law – Laws of physical science and physical law. Uniformities of actions which are the physical
phenomena that we sense or feel.

Ignorance of the law excuses no one.

Ignorance of the fact is excusable.

Law of Obligations and Contracts

- Substantive law
- Body of rules which deals with the nature and sources of obligations and the rights and duties
arising from agreements and the particular contracts

Obligation

- From latin word OBLIGATIO meaning tying or binding

- Juridical necessity to give, to do, or not to do
Requisites of an obligation/ Elements

Passive subject – obligor/ debtor

Active subject – obligee/ creditor

Object or prestation. May consist of giving, doing, or not doing

Juridical or legal tie / efficient cause/ Vinculum – source of obligation (sample is agreement or contract)

Form of obligation – manner in which an obligation is manifested. Oral, writing, or partially..

General rule : any form is binding

Kinds of obligation

As to subject matter

- Real – obligation to give

- Personal – to do or not to do (positive or negative)

Sources of Obligation ( 2 lang talaga Law and Contracts; the others are derived from law)

Law – when imposed by law itself

Contracts – stipulation of parties

- Meeting of minds between two parties whereby one binds himself, with respect to the other, to
give something or render something
- Have the same binding force as obligations imposed by law
- Valid if not contrary to the law, morals, good customs, public order, and public policy

Quasi-contracts – when they arise from lawful, voluntary, and unilateral acts which are enforceable to
the end that no one shall be unjustly enriched at the expense of the other.

- Kinds:
- Negotiorum Gestio – voluntary management of the property or affairs of another without
knowledge or consent of the latter (kunyare may sunog eh walang tao sa bahay nyo, so si kapit
 bahay tumulong, may obligation ka ngayun to reimburse yung expenses na nagamit nya sa
pagtulong)
- Solutio indebiti – when something is received when there is no right to demand and it was
unduly delivered through mistake
- Other quasi-contracts ( halimbawa may nagbayad ng for studies mo, reimburseabke yun sa
parents mo as they are required to support your education)

Crimes or delicts or acts or omissions punished by law – when they arise from consequence of a criminal
offense.

- If may material damage, criminally liable = civilly liable for damages

- If walang material damage, walang civil liability
- Pero even not criminally liable, pede pa ring maging civilly liable

- Scope of liability
- Restitution – returning the object or paying its value
- Reparation for the damage cause
- Indemnification for consequential damages

- Prescription of contracts 6 years oral; 10 years written. If lumampas na dun, civil obligation turns
into natural obligation na lang.

 Kinds of damages:
 Moral damages
 Exemplary damages – para di tularan
 Nominal damages
 Temperate damages
 Actual damages
 Liquidated damages – amount determined by the parties
 Note: for the first four, amounts are determined by court

Quasi-delicts or torts – when they arise from damage caused to another through an act or omission,
there being fault or negligence but without contractual relation exists between parties

- Requisites:
- Act or omission
- Fault or negligence
- Damage caused
- Direct connection with the cause and effect (act or omission and the damages)
- No pre-existing contractual relationship between the parties.
Note: Obligations derived from law are not presumed. Only those expressly determined are
demandable.

Obligation to give

- Positive
- Real
- Object should be certain
- It would be considered certain if:
 It is determinate
 Capable of being determinate without need for further agreement??

Specific vs. Generic

Duties of the obligor in obligation to give a determinate thing:

Preserve the thing

- Diligence of a good father of a family – ordinary care that a prudent person would exercise over
his properties
- Another standard of care could be extraordinary care.
- Standard care provided by law is the minimum requirement of care.
- If may conflict yung law and stipulation, remember minimum yung sa law.
- If both law and contract are silent, diligence of a good father of a family is required
Deliver the fruits

- Natural fruits – product of soil or the young and other products of animals (without the
intervention of man)
- Industrial fruits – produced by lands of any kind through cultivation or labor (rice, vegetables…)
- Civil fruits – derived by virtue of a juridical relation (rental..)

- Personal right turns to real right upon delivery of an object.

 Personal right vs. real right

 Personal Right – power to demand from another (debtor), the fulfillment of his
obligation to give, to do, or not to do. Enforceable only against a particular person.
 Real Right – right of the person over a specific thing without definite passive subject
(debtor) against whom the right may be enforced. Directed against the whole world.
 He shall acquire no real right over it until the same has been delivered to him – means
the creditor does not become the owner until the thing is delivered to him.

- Generally upon perfection of the contract the obligation to deliver the thing due and the FRUITS
arises but:
 If subject to suspensive condition, upon fulfillment of the condition. Walang retroactive
effect sa fruit, sa object lang. Kung magkakatoon ng fruit before the fulfillment of the
condition si debtor ang may right sa fruit.
 If subject sa suspensive period, when the period arises.
 In contract of sale, upon perfection of the contract even if the obligation is subject to
suspensive condition or period.

Deliver the accessions and accessories

- Accessions – fruits of a thing or additions to or improvements upon the thing (house on a land)
- Accessories – things joined to or included with the principal thing for embellishment, better use,
or completion ( key of a house, bracelet of a watch)

- General rule, accessory follows the principal. Deemed included dapat sa delivery. Para excluded
dapat may stipulation.

 Trivia:
 Alluvium- increase in land
 Avulsion – decrease in land

Deliver the thing itself

Answer damages for non-fulfillment.

------------

Pag determinate, upon delivery, obligation is extinguished.

Pag generic, dapat neither superior nor iinferior. Dapat kasi madeliver yung thing of the quality
intended, if not liable for damages. Pede kasing mapagawa sa iba yung obligation at the expense of the
debtor.

Obligation to do

- Positive
- Personal

- Dapat done properly, If done in a poor manner, may be required to be undone

- If di nagawa, it shall be executed at the cost of the debtor
- No involuntary servitude, so pag ayaw, go to court and ask for damages

Obligation not to do

- Negative
- Personal

- If what was forbidden has been done, it shall be done at his expense plus damages
Those guilty of the following are liable for damages:

Fraud

- Deceit or dolo
- Deliberate or intentional evasion of the normal fulfillment of an obligation
- Synonymous in bad faith
- Types of fraud
 Incidental fraud – committed in the performance of an obligation already existing
because of contract
 Causal fraud – fraud employed in the execution of the contract
- Waiver of liability for future fraud is void
- Waiver of past fraud may be valid as it can be considered as an act of generosity
- Fraud must be clearly proved
- Liability for fraud cannot be mitigated

Negligence

- Fault or culpa
- Any voluntary act or omission, there being no bad faith or malice, which prevents the normal
fulfillment of an obligation
- It is presumed from the violation of a contractual obligation
- Liability for negligence may be reduced

- Kinds of negligence
 Contractual negligence – culpa contractual, negligence in contracts resulting in their
breach.
 Civil negligence – culpa aquilana, negligence which by itself is the source of an obligation
between parties not so related before any pre existing contract. Also called as quasi-
delict or tort
 Criminal negligence – culpa criminal, negligence resulting in the commission of a crime.
- In negligence cases, one may choose a criminal action or civil action for damages but it is
prohibited to recover twice for the same negligent act

- Trivia: dati ang kinds nito is according sa weight, kung gross or slight… : Levis; Levisima; Lata

Delay

- Ordinary delay – merely failure to perform the obligation on time

- Legal delay – failure to perform an obligation that constitutes a breach of the obligation
- Kinds of delay:
 Mora solvendi – delay of the debtor (mora solvendi ex re: real obligation, obligation to
give | mora solvendi ex persona : personal obligation, obligation to do)
  Mora accipiendi – delay of the creditoslr to accept the performance of the obligation
 Compensatio morae – delay of the obligors in reciprocal obligations
- No delay in obligation not to do
- No demand, no delay
- Except when the law so provides or
- When the parties so stipulate or
- When time is of the essence or
- When demand will be useless or ( halimbawa namatay yung specific na kabayong dapat
idedeliver nung wala pang demand, then even if magdemand, it would be useless as patay na
naman yung object)
- In reciprocal obligation

- Requisites to have delay:

- Failure of performance of the obligation
- Demand (not mere reminder or notice)
 Judicial demand – filed in court
 Extrajudicial – outside court, orally or in writing
- Failure to comply with the demand

- Effects of delay

- Mora solvendi
- Liable to the creditor for interest or damages
- Liable even for a fortuitous event
 General rule in fortuitous events: no one is liable for fortuitous event except when the
law so provides.
- KINDS
 Mora solvendi ex re
 Mora solvendi ex persona

- Mora accipiendi
- Creditor is liable for damages
- Creditor bears the risk of loss of the thing due
- Debtor is not liable for interest
- Debtor may release himself from the obligation by depositing the thing due in court.
 - Compensatio morae – delay of the other cancels the delay of the other.
- However, when a party fulfills or is ready to fulfill his obligation, delay by the other begins.

Contravention of the tenor

- Contravention of the terms of the obligation

- Violation of the terms and conditions stipulated in the obligation
- The contravention must not be due to force majeure or fortuitous events

Fortuitous events

- Any event which cannot be foreseen, or though foreseen, is inevitable.

- Impossible to foresee or impossible to avoid
- Happening independent of the will of the debtor which makes the fulfillment of the obligation
impossible.
- Can be:
 Acts of man – independent of the will of the debtor but not of other human wills (fire,
robbery, murder)
 Acts of God – majeure or those events totally independent of every human being
( flood, earthquake, lightning..)
Note: in our law, force majeure and fortuitous events are identical in so far as they
exempt an obligor from liability
- Generally no one is liable for fortuitous events, except:
- When expressly specified by law:
 Debtor is guilty of fraud, negligence, or delay, or contravention of the tenor of the
obligation
 Debtor promised delivery of the same specific thing to 2 or more persons with different
interests
 Obligation to deliver a specific thing arises from a crime
 The thing to be delivered is generic
- When declared by stipulation
- When nature of the obligation requires assumption of risk (insurance, they assume risk of the
insured thing like house even fortuitous events occur)

Mutuum
- Simple loan or mutuum – contract whereby one party delivers to another, money or other
consumable thing, upon the condition that the same kind and quality shall be paid. May be
gratuitous or with stipulation to pay interest

- USURY - Contracting for or receiving interest in excess of the amount allowed by law for the loan
or use of money, goods, chattels or credits.

- Requisites for recovery of interest

 Payment of interest must be expressly stipulated
 The agreement must be in writing
 The interest must be lawful
- Stipulation for payment of usurious interest is void.
- Usury law is now inexistent however it does not give absolute right to the creditor to charge the
debtor interest that is INIQUITOUS or UNCONSCIONABLE.

- Receipt of the principal by the creditor without reservation as to interest = presumption that
said interest has been paid
- Receipt of later installment without reservation as to prior installments = presumption that such
installments have been paid

- Prior presumptions Not applicable to payment of taxes

- Note: Presumption cannot prevail over a proven fact. So if non- payment is prove, eh di di pa
bayad.

- Remedies of the creditors for the satisfaction of their claims

 Exact fulfillment
 Pursue the leviable property of the debtor
 Exercise all rights ( like right to redeem) and bring all actions of the debtor ( like right to
collect from the debtor of his debtor) execpt those inherent or personal to hid debtor
( like right to vote; to hold office; to receive legal support, etc.) - ACCION SUBRIGATORIA
 Ask the court to rescind or impugn acts or contracts which the debtor may have done to
defraud him when he cannot in any other manner recover his claim. (Sample ay yung
inofficious donation, nagdonate to defraud the creditor) - ACCION PAULIANA

 Note: all rights acquired in virtue of an obligation are transmissible if there’s been no
stipulation to the contrary. Exceptions to this are:
 Those prohibited by law:
 Rights in partnership
 Rights in agency – (a person binds himself to render some service in representation or
on behalf of abother, with consent or authority of the latter)
  Rights in commodatum (pagpapahiram)
 Those prohibited by stipulation of the parties

Kinds of obligations

Pure vs. conditional

- Pure – not subject to any condition and no specific date is mentioned for its fulfillment.
Immediately demandable.
- Conditional – one whose consequences are subject to condition
 Condition – future and uncertain event
 Kinds of condition:
 Suspensive condition – condition precedent or condition antecedent. Its fulfillment will
give rise to an obligation.
 Resolutory condition – condition subsequent. Its fulfillment will extinguish an obligation

 Period – future and certain event. Arrival of which either extinguishes or gives rise to an
obligation.
 Some terms which is deemed with a period:
 When his means permits me to do so
 Little by little
 As soon as possible
 In partial payment
 ….

- When fulfillment of the condition depends upon the sole will of the debtor, conditional
obligation shall be void.
- Potestative condition – condition that depends on the sole will of one of the contracting parties
- Casual – based on will of third person or by chance
- Mixed – based on will of one of the parties and will of a third person or chance
- Condition deemed fulfilled if debtor voluntarily prevents its fulfillment. (Ex. Though mabebenta
na ni y yung lupa, para makaiwas sa commission si x, yung owner, sya na nagbenta sa customer
 - Impossible conditions, those contrary to good customs, moral, public order, public policy and
those prohibited by law shall annul the obligation which depends on them. If divisible, those not
affected shall be valid
- Kinds of impossible condition:
 Physically impossible – in nature of things, cannot exist or cannot be done
 Legally impossible – contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order or public policy.
- The creditor may bring appropriate actions to preserve his rights before fulfillment of the
obligation.
- The debtor is entitled to recover the thing given by MISTAKE habang di pa fulfilled yung
condition. Dapat by MISTAKE or else deemed waived yung condition. Pero pag fulfilled na yung
condition, g na, di nya na marerecover yung prematurely given thing.

Loss

Kinds of loss

- Physical loss – when a thing perishes

- Legal loss – when a thing goes out of commerce or when the thing becomes illegal
- Civil loss – when a thing disappears in such a way that its existence is unknown or even if known,
cannot be recovered.

Note: the following are subject to suspensive conditions:

If loss without the fault of the debtor – extinguished obligation

Fault of the debtor – liable for damages and the value of the thing due upon fulfillment of the condition

Deteriorate without the fault of the debtor – impairment borne by the creditor

Fault of the debtor – the creditor may rescind or still ask for fulfillment plus damages in both cases upon
fulfillment of the condition

If improved by nature – benefit of the creditor

If improved at the expense of the debtor – may usufruct si debtor

 Usufruct – right to enjoy the use and fruits of a thing belonging to another.
 The debtor has no right to be indemnified for the improvement.
 Pwedeng alisin ni debtor yung improvement should it be possible to do so without damage to
the property.

Kinds of obligations

Unilateral vs. bilateral

Unilateral – when one party is obliged to comply with a prestation

Bilateral – when both parties are mutually bound to each other

 May be:
 Reciprocal – arise from the same cause in which each party are debtor and creditor to each
other; impose simultaneous and correlative performance of both parties (sample: contract of
sale, upon delivery, dapat ibigay na rin yung purchase price)
 Non-reciprocal – does not impose simultaneous and correlative performance of both parties.
(Magkaiba yung reason why they are debtor and creditor of each other, sample: may utang yung
isa, yung isa naman is nanghiram ng kotse.)

Remedies in reciprocal obligation:

- Specific performance plus damages

- Rescission plus damages

Infractor – the one who violates his part of the obligation

In reciprocal obligation where both are infractors:

If first infractor is known, his liability shall be equitably tempered by courts.

If not know each shall bear they’re own damages

Obligation with a period