Nature and Effect of

Obligations: Part 1
(NCC Articles 1163 to 1178)

Lesson Code: PRE_LAW1_03

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Art. 1163. 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, unless the law or the
stipulation of the parties requires
another standard of care.

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SOMETHING
Primary Obligation: Giving what is
supposed to be given.

WHAT WILL BE GIVEN?

-Generic Thing OR
-Specific Thing
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A thing is determinate when it is
particularly designated or physically
segregated from all others of the
same class. (Art. 1460) It
is determinate or specific if it is
distinct from all others and can
individually be classified or
determined. From the word itself
determinate meaning can be
determined from all others.
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Examples: Romeo's only horse
named Alden, Kawasaki Raider
with engine number 12345 and
plate number HX1123, and
Romeo's one and only Rolex 3310
made in China with serial number
265747.

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In contrast, indeterminate or generic
thing is the opposite of determinate or
specific thing; that is, generic or
indeterminate thing is not particularly
designated or physically segregated from
all others of the same class. It means that
a thing cannot be specifically determined
from things of the same class. The thing
can be replaced by another thing that is
of the same quality. Examples: a horse, a
motorcycle, a sack of rice, a car, and Php
100, 000.
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Why is it important to know if a thing
is determinate or indeterminate?
Art. 1262. States that the loss of a determinate
thing through a fortuitous event extinguishes
the obligation. Meaning that the thing is lost
without the fault of the debtor. This is the
general rule. But when it comes to
Indeterminate thing, such loss of the thing does
not extinguishes the obligation (genus nunquam
perit).

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Also, it is important to know if a thing
is determinate or indeterminate
because
Art. 1165. When the thing is determinate, the
creditor can (1) compel delivery; and (2) ask for
damage, if warranted.

When the thing is generic, the creditor can (1)

ask others to fulfill the obligation at debtor’s
expense; and (2) ask damage, if warranted.
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Damages may be obtained
exclusively or in addition to
the specific performance.

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Accessory Obligations:

1. To take care (Art. 1163)

2. To deliver the thing (Art. 1163)
3. To deliver the fruits (Art. 1164)
4. To deliver accessions and
accessories (Art. 1165)

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1. After constitution of the obligation and
before delivery, to take care of it with the
proper diligence of a good father of the
family (Article 1163)
General Rule: Diligence of a good father of
the family
Exception: Law or stipulation requires
different standard of care.
• If through negligence, something causes
the thing damage, the debtor is liable for
damages.
• This is not applicable to a generic thing.
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Diligence of a good father of the
family
• A standard man does not mean
an ideal or perfect man, but an
ordinary member of the
community. He is usually
spoken of as an ordinarily
reasonable, careful, and
prudent man.
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WHAT CONSTITUTES THE CONDUCT OF A
PRUDENT MAN IN A GIVEN SITUATION?
• Picart vs. Smith (1918): Conduct
determined in the light of human
experience and in view of the facts
involved in the particular case. Abstract
speculations cannot be of much value
here; instead, reasonable men govern
their conduct by the circumstances which
are known before them. They are not
supposed to be omniscient of the future.
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STANDARD OF CARE
• Picart vs. Smith (1918): Test: Did the
defendant in doing the alleged negligent
act use that reasonable care and caution
which an ordinarily prudent man would
have used in the same situation? If not,
then he is negligent. Negligence in a given
case is not determined by reference to the
personal judgment of the actor in the
situation before him, but is determined in
the light of human experience and the facts
involved in the particular case.
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Exception: Law or stipulation requires different
standard of care.

STANDARD OF CARE REQUIRED OF BANKS

Philippine Bank of Commerce vs. CA (1997): In the
case of banks, however, the degree of diligence
required is more than that of a good father of a
family. Considering the fiduciary nature of their
relationship with their depositors, banks are duty
bound to treat the accounts of their clients with the
highest degree of care.
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Exception: Law or stipulation requires different
standard of care.

STANDARD OF CARE OF EXPERTS/PROFESSIONALS

Culion vs. Philippine (1930): When a person holds
himself out as being competent to do things
requiring professional skill, he will be held liable for
negligence if he fails to exhibit the care and skill of
one ordinarily skilled in the particular work which
he attempts to do.

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Exception: Law or stipulation requires different
standard of care.

STANDARD OF CARE OF CHILDREN

Taylor vs. Manila Railroad (1910): Children must be
expected to act upon childlike instincts and impulses
and others chargeable with a duty of care and caution
toward them must take precautions accordingly. If they
leave exposed to the observation of children anything
which would be tempting to them, and which they in
their immature judgment might naturally suppose they
were at liberty to play with, they should expect that
liberty to be taken. (But the child in this case was still
negligent because of his experience).
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2. To deliver the thing (Art. 1163)

Primary Obligation: Giving what is

supposed to be given.

WHAT WILL BE GIVEN?

-Generic Thing OR
-Specific Thing
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Art. 1165. When the thing is
determinate, the creditor can (1)
compel delivery; and (2) ask for
damage, if warranted.

When the thing is generic, the creditor

can (1) ask others to fulfill the
obligation at debtor’s expense; and (2)
ask damage, if warranted.
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3. To account and deliver to the creditor
the fruits if the thing bears fruits upon
the time the obligation to deliver it
arises (Article 1164)

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Under Article 1164, the
creditor has a right to the
FRUITS of the thing from
the time the obligation
to deliver the thing
arises.
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When does the time the obligation to
deliver arises under Art. 1164?
• If pure obligation, from the time
of the perfection.
• If conditional or with a period,
from the time the condition or
period is fulfilled.

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However, ownership is transferred only by
delivery. Hence, creditor‘s right over the fruits
is merely personal.
Also, 2nd sentence of Art. 1164 provides that
“However, he shall acquire no real right over it
until the same has been delivered to him”

What do we mean when it is said

the right is merely personal or
there is no real right?

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REAL RIGHT vs. PERSONAL RIGHT (in relation to
delivery)

1. Prior delivery, the right is

personal.
2. After delivery, the right is
real (you can enforce real
right against the whole
world)
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Example: A sold B a mango plantation to
be delivered on January 1. Come January
1, A did not deliver. A instead sold the
fruits to C, a buyer in good faith. B sues A
for specific performance. Court awards the
plantation to B. Does B have a right to the
fruits? Yes, as against A. No, as against C,
because B‘s right over the fruits is only
personal. B‘s remedy is to go against A for
the value of the fruits.
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Kinds of fruits (Art. 442 NCC)
Natural Fruits – spontaneous product
of the soil and the young and other
products of animals.
Industrial Fruits – produced by land of
any kind through cultivation or labor.
Civil Fruits – result of juridical relation
such as rents etc.
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4. To deliver the accessions and
accessories (Article 1166)

• The debtor must deliver the

accessions and accessories even
though they may not have been
mentioned. The parties may however
stipulate that accessions and
accessories will not be included.
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 Accessions vs. Accessories
Accessions (Art. 440) The ownership of
property gives the right by accession to
everything which is produced thereby, or
which is incorporated or attached thereto,
either naturally or artificially.
The law wisely does not define accession. It
merely tells us what accession does.

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 Example of Accession
Alluvion or accretion (NCC Art. 457)
• Alluvion refers to the deposit of soil.
• Accretion denotes the act or process
by which a riparian land gradually and
imperceptively receives addition made
by the water to which the land is
contiguous.

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 Example of Accession
Avulsion(NCC Art. 459)
• Avulsion is the removal of a considerable quantity of
soil from 1 estate and its annexation to another by the
perceptible action of water.
• In alluvium, the accumulation of the soil is gradual. The
soil belongs to the owner of the property where the soil
attaches. The soil cannot be identified.
• In avulsion, the accumulation of soil is sudden and
abrupt. The soil can be identified. The soil belongs to
the owner of the property from where the soil was
taken. However, the owner has to 2 years to get the
soil. If he does not get the soil within 2 years, the owner
of the property where the soil currently is shall own the
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Accessions vs. Accessories
Accessories. An accessory is anything
that is attached to or included in
another thing of more importance to
add to utility, ornamentation,
preservation or completion.

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 Obligation to do
Art. 1167. 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.
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Only the obligor can do (personalisimo)

Remedies Available to the Creditor

1. Equivalent performances – damages

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Anyone else can do it (not personalisimo)
Remedies Available to the Creditor
1. Substitute performance – done by
someone else (perform at the expense of the
debtor)
2. Equivalent performance – damages
*Damages may be obtained exclusively or in
addition to the 1st 2 actions.

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Also, if things are done
poorly, it should be
undone at the debtor’s
expense with the right
to damages. (Art. 1170)

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Obligation not to do
Art. 1168. When the obligation
consists in not doing, and the
obligor does what has been
forbidden him, it shall also be
undone at his expense.
This includes the obligation not to
give.
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Obligation not to do
Remedies Available to the Creditor
i. Substitute performance - done by
someone else (perform at the
expense of the debtor)
ii. Equivalent performance - damages
Damages may be obtained exclusively
or in addition to the 1st 2 actions.
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END OF TODAY’S LESSON
Next Topic:
1. Forms of breach obligation

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