NATURAL LAW
DISTINGUISHED FROM WAIVER
1. Immutable and independent of all human
regulations
2. Includes those rules which are neither
written nor promulgated, but are derived
from reason and nature
TYPES OF OBLIGATIONS:
1. Moral obligations duties of conscience
completely outside the field of law
2. Natural obligations not sanctioned by any
action but have a relative juridical effect
3. Civil obligations juridical obligations which
apparently are in conformity with positive
law but are contrary to juridical principles
and susceptible of being annulled
4. Mixed obligations have full juridical effect
CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR NATURAL
OBLIGATION TO ARISE:
1. Juridical tie which is not prohibited by law
2. This tie is not given effect by law
When a debtor offers a guarantor for his natural
obligation, he impliedly accepts the coercive
remedies to enforce the guaranty, and therefore, the
transformation of the natural obligation into a civil
obligation.
ESTOPPEL (ARTICLE 1431)
1. An admission;
2. Is rendered conclusive
3. Upon the person making it; and
4. Cannot be denied or disproved against the
person relying thereon
CONCEPT OF ESTOPPEL
Estoppel is a bar which precludes a person from
denying or asserting anything to the contrary of that
which has, in contemplation of law, been established
as the truth, either by the acts of judicial or
legislative officers or by his own deed or
representation, either expressed or implied.
It concludes the truth in order to prevent fraud and
falsehood, and imposes silence on a party only
when in conscience and honesty he should not be
allowed to speak.
A waiver is a voluntary and intentional abandonment
or relinquishment of a known right. It carries no
implication of fraud. It involves the act or conduct of
only one of the parties.
An equitable estoppel may arise, however, even
where there is no intention on the part of the person
estopped to relinquish any existing right and
frequently carries the implication of fraud. It involves
the conduct of both parties.
In Lopez v. Ochoa (L- 7955, May 30, 1958), the
Supreme Court held that waiver and estoppel are
frequently used as convertible terms. The doctrine of
waiver belongs to the family of, is of the nature of, is
based on, estoppel. The essence of waiver is
estoppel and where there is no estoppel, there is no
waiver. This is especially true where the waiver
relied upon is constructive or implied from the
conduct of a party.
DISTINGUISHED FROM RATIFICATION
In ratification, the party is bound because he
intended to be bound; in estoppel, the party is bound
notwithstanding the fact that there was no such
intention because the other party will be prejudiced
and defrauded by his conduct unless the law treats
him as legally bound.
DISTINGUISHED FROM FRAUD
Estoppel exists with or without a contract; fraud
presupposes an attempt to enter into a valid
agreement or contract.
While estoppel may raised as a defense, fraud may
properly be a cause of action on account of the
vitiated consent that it produces.
ADMISSIONS
A party may be estopped to insist upon a claim,
assert an objection, or take a position which is
inconsistent with an admission which he had
previously made and in reliance upon which the
other party has changed his position.
SILENCE OR INACTION
This is sometimes referred to as estoppel by
standing by or laches. Mere innocent silence will
not work an estoppel. There must also be some
element of turpitude or negligence connected with
the silence by which another is misled to his injury.
But one who invokes this doctrine of estoppel must
show not only unjustified inaction but also some
unfair injury would result to him unless the action is
held barred.
Estoppel by acquiescence is closely related to
estoppel by silence. In the former, a person is
prevented from maintaining a position inconsistent
with one in which he has acquiesced.
NATURE OF LACHES
Laches is failure or neglect, for an unreasonable and
unexplained length of time, to do that which, by
exercising due diligence, could or should have been
done earlier; it is negligence or omission to assert a
right within a reasonable time, warranting a
presumption that the party entitled to assert it either
has abandoned or declined to assert it.
ELEMENTS OF LACHES
1. Conduct on the part of the defendant or of
one under whom he claims, giving rise to the
situation complained of;
2. Delay in asserting complainants rights after
he had knowledge of the defendants
conduct and after he has had an opportunity
to sue;
3. Lack of knowledge or notice on the part of
the defendant that the complainant would
assert the right on which he bases his suit;
4. Injury or prejudice to the defendant in the
event relief is accorded to the complainant.
LACHES AND PRESCRIPTION DISTINGUISHED
PRESCRIPTION LACHES
Concerned w/ the fact of delay Same
A matter of time Principally a 2.
question of inequity founded on some change in
the condition of the property or the relation of the
parties
Statutory Not statutory
Applies to law Applies to
equity
Based on a fixed time Not based on a
fixed time
KINDS OF ESTOPPEL
1. Technical Estoppels
Estoppel by record the preclusion to deny the
truth of matters set forth in a record, whether judicial
or legislative, and also to deny the facts adjudicated
by a court of competent jurisdiction
Example: the conclusiveness of a judgment on the
parties to a case
Estoppel by deed a bar which precludes one
party to a deed and his privies from asserting as
against the other party and his privies any right or
title in derogation of the deed, or from denying the
truth of any material facts asserted in it; a written
instrument is necessary for there to be estoppel by
deed
Some doctrines:
1. If the deed or instrument is null and void
because of the contract, there is no estoppel
2. Ordinarily, the person estopped must be
capacitated; but a minor is clever enough to
deceive others, estoppel may result
3. If a person, who is not a party to the instrument,
notarizes the same, he is not in estoppel
2. Equitable Estoppel or Estoppel in Pais
It arises when one by his acts, representations or
admissions, or by his silence when he ought to
speak out, intentionally or through culpable
negligence, induces another to believe certain facts
to exist, and such other rightfully relies and acts on
such belief, so that he will be prejudiced if the former
is permitted to deny the existence of such facts. It
takes place in a situation where because if a partys
action or omission, he is denied the right to plead or
prove an otherwise important fact.
This may be estoppel:
1. by conduct or by acceptance of benefits
by representation or concealment
3. by silence
4. by omission
5. by laches
Some doctrines:
1. Conduct because of ignorance or mistake
does not result in estoppel
2. Estoppel by laches bars an action to create
a vested right (executory interest) but does
not bar an action to protect a vested right
(executed interest)
 3. Just because a person is silent does not
necessarily mean that he will be in estoppel;
there should have been a duty or obligation
to speak
4. A mere promise to perform or to omit at
some future time does not necessarily result
in estoppel (promissory estoppel); for this to
exist, the promise must have been relied
upon and prejudice would result unless
estoppel is applied
An estoppel operates on the parties to the
transaction out of which it arises and their privies.
The government is not estopped by mistake or
error on the part of its officials or agents; the
erroneous application and enforcement of the law by
public officers does not prevent a subsequent
correct application of the statute.

ELEMENTS OF ESTOPPEL IN PAIS

In relation to the party sought to be estopped:

1. Conduct amounting to false representation

or concealment of material facts or at least
calculated to convey the impression that the
facts are otherwise than and consistent with
those which the party subsequently attempts
to assert;
2. Intent or at least expectation that this
conduct shall be acted upon by at least
influence the other party;
3. Knowledge, actual or constructive, of the
real facts
In relation to the party claiming the estoppel:

1. Lack of knowledge or of the means of

knowing the truth as to the facts in question;
2. Reliance, in good faith, upon the conduct or
statement as to the facts in question;
3. Action or inaction based thereon of such
character as to change the position or status
of the party claiming the estoppel to his
injury, detriment, or prejudice

ESTOPPEL AGAINST OWNER

When in a contract between third persons

concerning immovable property, one of them is
misled by a person with respect to the ownership of
real right over the real estate, the latter is precluded
from asserting his legal title or interest therein,
provided all these requisites are present:

1. There must be fraudulent representation or

wrongful concealment of facts known to the
party estopped;
2. The party precluded must intend that the other
should act upon the facts as misrepresented;
3. The party misled must have been unaware of
the true facts; and
4. The party defrauded must have acted in
accordance with the misrepresentation.