CONCEPT

Article 2195. The provisions of this Title shall be respectively applicable to all
obligations mentioned in Article 1157.

Damages may properly be defined as the pecuniary compensation, recompense, or

satisfaction for an injury sustained, or, as otherwise expressed, the pecuniary
consequences which the law imposes for the breach of some duty or violation of
some rights. (People vs. Ballesteros, 91 SCAD 146, 285 SCRA 438 [1998]; 8 R.C.L.
420.)
As used in the Civil Code, it may refer either to the monetary award to the person
injured by the legally recognized harm caused by another or to the loss caused to
such person by the violation of his legal rights.
Injury is the legal invasion of a legal right; damage is the loss, hurt, or harm which
results from the injury; and damages are the recompense or compensation awarded
for the damage suffered.
Bases for award of tort damages
o Breach of duty by defendant
o Injury to plaintiff proximately resulting from the breach.
o Compensation to plaintiff commensurate with his loss
Damages is distinct from restitution and injunction, both of which are also
occasionally available in tort cases
o Restitution, when available, requires the defendant to restore any gains he
made in a transaction, or by his act or omission.
o Injunction, when available, forbids threatened actions or requires the
defendant to alter harmful conduct or repair its consequences. (see D.B.
Dobbs, The Law of Torts, 2000 Ed., p. 1047.)

Art. 2196. The rules under this Title are without prejudice to special provisions on
damages formulated elsewhere in this Code. Compensation for workmen and
other employees in case of death, injury or illness is regulated by special laws.
Rules governing damages laid down in other laws shall be observed insofar as
they are not in conflict with this Code.

Elements of damages recoverable

o Time losses. The plaintiff can recover loss of wages or the value of any lost
time or earning capacity where injuries prevent work
o Injury expenses. Expenses incurred by reason of the injury are recoverable
as damages. Under the avoidable consequences rule (Art. 2203.), expenses
incurred to minimize damages may be recovered.
o Pain and suffering. In their various forms, they include emotional distress
and consciousness of loss. (see Art. 2217; D.B. Dobbs, op. cit., p. 1048.) Pain
and suffering damages for intangible losses may be awarded to compensate
the plaintiff for physical and emotional suffering, disfigurement, loss of lifes
enjoyments, and other similar intangible losses. (K.S. Abraham, op. cit., p.
206.)
Evidence of fact, amount, and cause of damages
o Fact and amount of the damage. It is fundamental that damages cannot be
presumed and must be proved by clear and satisfactory evidence as to the
fact and amount thereof
o Cause of the damage. The act or omission of the defendant must have
been the proximate cause, as distinguished from the remote, cause of the
injury.

Cause of the damage. The act or omission of the defendant must have
been the proximate cause, as distinguished from the remote, cause of the
injury.
Evidence to prove fact and cause: reasonable certainty
Evidence to prove amount

Art. 2197. Damages may be: (1) Actual or compensatory; (2) Moral; (3) Nominal;
(4) Temperate or moderate; (5) Liquidated; or (6) Exemplary or corrective.

Damages, generally speaking, are of two (2) kinds: compensation damages and
punitive (exemplary or corrective) damages.
In cases where the parties undertake in their contract to fix the damages recoverable
upon a breach thereof, the damages are spoken of as liquidated damages. The
term damages also includes nominal damages given in vindication of a breach of
duty which does not result in any actual or pecuniary loss. (58 Am. Jur. 2d 13.)
Damages may be divided according to the manner of determining the amount of
indemnity.
o It is liquidated or conventional, if stipulated by the parties in a contract or
non-conventional, if not agreed upon or predetermined. The latter, in turn,
may be fixed by law, in which case it is called statutory, or by the courts, and,
therefore, called judicial. (R. Puno, Damages under the Civil Code in UPLC
Continuing Legal Education for Municipal Judges, pp. 103-108 [1968].)
Damages have also been classified into ordinary damages or those which necessarily
and by implication of law result from the act or omission complained of, and special
damages or those which result directly but not necessarily or by implication of law,
from the act or omission complained of and exist only because of special
circumstances.

Art. 2198. The principles of the general law on damages are hereby adopted
insofar as they are not inconsistent with this Code.