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Law Week 2
Law Week 2
As a general rule, every person obliged to give something is also obliged to take care of it with the
proper diligence of a good father of a family.
Exceptions:
This diligence refers to an obligation to deliver a specific or determinate thing. A thing is said to be
specific or determinate when it is particularly designated or physical segregated from others of the
same class.[ Article 1459, Civil Code.] An example of a determinate thing is a Maroon Toyota 2018
model with plate no. NDI 1492 and chassis no. 78901234.
Duties of a Debtor in Obligation to
Duties of a Debtor in Obligation to Give Give a
a Determinate Thing Generic Thing
1) Preserve the thing 1) Deliver a thing which is of the quality
intended by the parties taking into
2) Deliver the fruits of the thing consideration the purpose of the obligation
and other circumstances
3) Deliver the accessions and
accessories 2) To be liable for damages in case of
fraud, negligence or delay or contravene the
4) Deliver the thing itself tenor of the obligation
Diligence of a good father of a family means ordinary care or that diligence which an average (a
reasonably prudent) persons exercise over his own property. There are exceptions based on either law
or agreement by the parties.
The creditor has a right to the fruits of the thing from the time the obligation to deliver it arises.
However, he shall acquire no real right over it until the same has been delivered to him.[ Article
a) Natural fruits are the spontaneous products of the soil and the young and other products of
animals. (ex. calf, wild grass)
b) Industrial fruits are those produced by lands of any kind through cultivation or labor.
c) (ex. rice, vegetables)
d) Civil fruits are those derived by virtue of a juridical relation. (ex. rent, amount of life annuities)
Personal Right Real Right
Right or power of a person to demand from Right or interest of a person over a specific
another the fulfillment of the latter’s thing without a definite passive subject
obligation to give, to do or not to do. against whom the right may be personally
enforced.
Requires a definite active subject and a Requires only a definite active subject
definite passive subject without any passive subject
Binding and enforceable against a particular Directed against the whole world
person
II. NATURE OF OBLIGATIONS TO DO
If a person obliged to do something fails to do it, the same shall be executed at his cost.
This same rule shall be observed if he does it in contravention of the tenor of the obligation.
Furthermore, it may be decreed that what has been poorly done be undone.[ Article 1167, Civil Code.
The creditor may perform the obligation himself or ask somebody else to do it. In any case, he has a
right to ask for damages.
When the obligation consists in not doing, and the obligor does what has been forbidden him, it shall
be undone at his expense.[ Article 1168, Civil Code.
A voluntary breach of an obligation may occur in any of the following forms: (a) delay or mora, (b)
fraud or dolo, (c) negligence or (d) contravention of the tenor of the obligation. In any of these four (4)
instances, the guilty party shall be liable for damages.
A. DELAY
Default or mora signifies the idea of delay in the fulfillment of an obligation with respect to time.
[ Jurado, D.P. (2010). Comments and Jurisprudence on Obligations and Contracts.
02B-BA222-WK2 DEVELOPMENT OF THE LESSON
Except:
a. When the obligation provides that demand is not necessary
b. When the law so provides (ex. Payment of taxes)
c. When time is of the essence (ex. Wedding dress)
d. The designation of the time when the thing is to be delivered or the service is to be rendered was
a controlling motive for the establishment of the contract.[ Article 1169, Civil
Code. ]
e. When demand would be useless as when the obligor has rendered it beyond his power to
perform.
02B-BA222-WK2 DEVELOPMENT OF THE LESSON
B. FRAUD
Fraud or dolo consists in the conscious and intentional proposition to evade the normal fulfillment
of an obligation.
Incidental Fraud (Dolo Incidente) Causal Fraud (Dolo Causante)
Present during the performance of an Present during the birth of the obligation
existing obligation
Employed for the purpose of evading the Employed to secure the consent of the other
normal fulfillment of the obligation party to enter into the contract
Culpa may either be culpa contractual which requires a preexisting contractual relationship between
the parties or culpa aquiliana, also called tort or quasi delict, when there is no preexisting contractual
relationship between the parties.
The question to be asked is: “Did the defendant in doing the alleged negligent act use the reasonable
care and caution which an ordinarily prudent person would have used in the same situation?”
FRAUD NEGLIGENCE
Consists of a deliberate intent to cause No such deliberate intent
damage or injury
This breach includes not only any illicit acts which impairs the strict and faithful fulfillment of the
obligation but also every kind of defective performance.
Remedies available to Creditors in case the Debtor fails to comply with his obligation
V. FORTUITOUS EVENTS
As a general rule, no person shall be responsible for those events which could not be foreseen,
or which, though foreseen, were inevitable.[ Article 1170, Civil Code.]
Fortuitous event may be defined as an event which could not be foreseen, or which, though foreseen,
were inevitable. It may be produced by two (2) causes: (a) by nature such as earthquakes,
storms, floods, epidemics (fortuitous event proper) and (b) by acts of man such as an armed invasion,
attack by bandits, governmental prohibitions, robbery, etc. (force majeure). Essentially, there is no
substantial difference between the two since both refer to an event or cause which is independent of
the will of the obligor.[ University of Santo Tomas vs.
Note: In order to relieve the obligor or debtor of any liability, the act of God or fortuitous event must
not only be the proximate cause of the loss or destruction, it must be the sole cause.[ Tan Chiong Sian
vs. Inchausti & Co., 32 Phil. 152, Limpangco vs. Yangco Steamship Co., 34 Phil. 597, Nakpil & Sons, et.
al. vs. Court of Appeals (144 SCRA 596)]
Exceptions:
A. When expressly specified by law
1. Debtor is guilty of delay, fraud, negligence or contravention of the tenor of the obligation;
2. Debtor promise to deliver the thing to two (2) or more persons who do not have the same
interest.
3. Obligation to deliver a specific thing arises from a crime.
4. The thing to be delivered is generic.
B. When by stipulation of parties, debtor may still be held liable[ Article 1306, Civil Code.]
C. When the nature of the obligation requires the assumption of risk. (ex. Insurance contracts)