I. INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL LAW -it commands that something should not be done.

iii. permissive
The term law may be understood in two concepts:
i. in the general or abstract sense
-the science of moral rules, founded on the rational nature of man, which
govern his free activity, for the realization of the individual and social
ends, of a nature both demandable and reciprocal.
-it is the mass of obligatory rules established for the purpose of
governing the relations of persons in society.
ii. specific or material sense
-a juridical proposition or an aggregate of juridical propositions,
promulgated and published by the competent organs of the State in
accordance with the Constitution.
*Law is a product of social life, and is a creation of human nature. Law
rests upon the concepts of order, co-existence, and liberty.
Characteristics of law:
i. it is a rule of human conduct
ii. promulgated by competent authority
iii. obligatory
iv. of general observance
*Law and moral have a common ethical basis and spring from the same
source the social conscience.
-it commands that what it permits to be done should be tolerated or
respected.
II. EFFECT AND APPLICATION OF LAWS: NCC 1-18
A. When do laws take effect?
ART. 2. Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the
completion of their publication in the Official Gazette, unless it is
otherwise provided. This Code shall take effect one year after such
publication.
*The Civil Code became effective on Aug. 30, 1950. The provisions of
the Code on the date when laws become effective apply only when the
particular statute does not provide its own date of effectivity. Thus,
where the statute provides that it shall be effective upon approval, no
publication is necessary before it becomes effective.
REVISED ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
SEC. 18. When Laws Take Effect.Laws shall take effect after fifteen
(15) days following the completion of their publication in the Official
Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation, unless it is otherwise
provided.

Two general groups: SEC. 19. Prospectivity.Laws shall have prospective effect unless the
i. divine law contrary is expressly provided.
ii. human law
SEC. 20. Interpretation of Laws and Administrative Issuances.In the
Two main classes of human law: interpretation of a law or administrative issuance promulgated in all the
i. general or public law official languages, the English text shall control, unless otherwise
ii. individual or private law specifically provided. In case of ambiguity, omission or mistake, the
other texts may be consulted.
Kinds of specific law:
i. mandatory SEC. 21. No Implied Revival of Repealed Law.When a law which
-it commands that something be done. expressly repeals a prior law is itself repealed, the law first repealed
ii. prohibitory shall not be thereby revived unless expressly so provided.
SEC. 22. Revival of Law Impliedly Repealed.When a law which
impliedly repeals a prior law is itself repealed, the prior law shall
thereby be revived, unless the repealing law provides otherwise.
SEC. 23. Ignorance of the Law.Ignorance of the law excuses no one
from compliance therewith.
SEC. 24. Contents.There shall be published in the Official Gazette all
legislative acts and resolutions of a public nature; all executive and
administrative issuances of general application; decisions or abstracts of
decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, or other courts
of similar rank, as may be deemed by the said courts of sufficient
importance to be so published; such documents or classes of documents
as may be required so to be published by law; and such documents or
classes of documents as the President shall determine from time to time
to have general application or which he may authorize so to be
published.
The publication of any law, resolution or other official documents in the
Official Gazette shall be prima facie evidence of its authority.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 200
SEC. 1. Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the
completion of their publication either in the Official Gazette or in a
newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines, unless it is
otherwise provided.
SEC. 2. Article 2 of Republic Act No. 386, otherwise known as the
"Civil Code of the Philippines," and all other laws inconsistent with this
Executive Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
B. Ignorance of the law
ART. 3. Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance
therewith.
*Everyone is conclusively presumed to know that law.
*Reason for the article. Evasion of the law would be facilitated and the
administration of justice defeated, if persons could successfully plead
ignorance of the law to escape the legal consequences of their acts, or
to excuse non-performance of their legal duties.
*The laws referred to by this article are those of the Philippines. They
are limited to mandatory and prohibitory laws. It does not include those
which are merely permissive.
*Ignorance may either be of law or of fact. Ignorance of fact may excuse
a party from the legal consequences of his conduct but not ignorance of
law.
C. Retroactivity
ART. 4. Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is
provided.
*Reason for the article. A law that has not yet become effective cannot
be considered as conclusively known by the people. To make a law
binding even before it has taken effect may lead to arbitrary exercise of
the legislative power.
*All statutes are to be construed as having only a prospective operation.
Exceptions, when statutes can be given retroactive effect:
i. when the law itself so expressly provides
ex. when the retroactivity of a penal statute will make it an ex post facto
law; when it will constitute an impairment of the obligation of contract.
ii. in case of remedial statutes
-so long as it does not affect or change vested rights.
iii. in case of curative statutes
-so long as it does not violate constitutional provisions, nor destroy
vested rights of third persons. They cannot also affect a judgment that
has become final.
iv. in case of law interpreting others
v. in case of laws creating new rights
-provided that it does not prejudice another acquired right of the same
origin.
ART. 5. Acts executed against the provisions of mandatory or
prohibitory laws shall be void, except when the law itself authorizes
their validity.
*The violation of a mandatory or prohibitory statute renders the act
illegal and void.
c.f. NCC 2252-2269
REVISED PENAL CODE
ART. 22. Retroactive effect of penal laws. - Penal Laws shall
have a retroactive effect insofar as they favor the persons guilty
of a felony, who is not a habitual criminal, as this term is defined
in Rule 5 of Article 62 of this Code, although at the time of the
publication of such laws a final sentence has been pronounced
and the convict is serving the same.
D. Waiver of rights
ART. 6. Rights may be waived, unless the waiver is contrary to law,
public order, public policy, morals, or good customs, or prejudicial to a
third person with a right recognized by law.
Three elements of a right:
i. subjects
-may be an active subject (entitled to demand the enforcement of the
right) or passive subject (duty-bound to suffer its enforcement).
ii. object
-things and services intended for the satisfaction of human wants,
physical or spiritual
iii. efficient cause
-the fact that gives rise to the legal relation, e.g. contract.
Kinds of rights:
i. political
ii.civil
Kinds of civil rights:
i. rights of personality
ii. family rights
iii. patrimonial rights
*Waiver is defined as the relinquishment of a known right with both
knowledge of its existence and an intention to relinquish it. Voluntary
choice is the essence of waiver. A waiver may be express or implied.
Requisites for valid renunciation of a right:
i. he must actually have the right which he renounces
ii. he must have the capacity to make the renunciation
iii. the renunciation must be made in a clear and unequivocal manner
*There can be no renunciation of rights if it amounts to the renunciation
of the law itself. Neither can there be a waiver of rights if it will
prejudice third persons.
Article 7. Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their
violation or non-observance shall not be excused by disuse, or custom
or practice to the contrary.
When the courts declared a law to be inconsistent with the Constitution,
the former shall be void and the latter shall govern.
Administrative or executive acts, orders and regulations shall be valid
only when they are not contrary to the laws or the Constitution.
Article 8. Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the
Constitution shall form a part of the legal system of the Philippines.
Article 9. No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason
of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the laws.
Article 10. In case of doubt in the interpretation or application of laws,
it is presumed that the lawmaking body intended right and justice to
prevail.
Article 11. Customs which are contrary to law, public order or public
policy shall not be countenanced.
Article 12. A custom must be proved as a fact, according to the rules of
evidence.
Article 13. When the laws speak of years, months, days or nights, it shall
be understood that years are of three hundred sixty-five days each;
months, of thirty days; days, of twenty-four hours; and nights from
sunset to sunrise.
If months are designated by their name, they shall be computed by the
number of days which they respectively have.
When the acts referred to are executed before the diplomatic or consular
officials of the Republic of the Philippines in a foreign country, the
solemnities established by Philippine laws shall be observed in their
execution.
Prohibitive laws concerning persons, their acts or property, and those
which have for their object public order, public policy and good customs
shall not be rendered ineffective by laws or judgments promulgated, or
by determinations or conventions agreed upon in a foreign country.
Article 18. In matters which are governed by the Code of Commerce
and special laws, their deficiency shall be supplied by the provisions of
this Code.

In computing a period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last day
included.

Article 14. Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be
obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in the Philippine territory,
subject to the principles of public international law and to treaty
stipulations.

Article 15. Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status,
condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the
Philippines, even though living abroad.

Article 16. Real property as well as personal property is subject to the

law of the country where it is stipulated.

However, intestate and testamentary successions, both with respect to

the order of succession and to the amount of successional rights and to
the intrinsic validity of testamentary provisions, shall be regulated by
the national law of the person whose succession is under consideration,
whatever may be the nature of the property and regardless of the country
wherein said property may be found.

Article 17. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and other
public instruments shall be governed by the laws of the country in which
they are executed.

III. CIVIL PERSONALITY
A. Persons and Personality: NCC 37-39
ART. 37. Juridical capacity, which is the fitness to be the subject of legal
relations, is inherent in every natural person and is lost only through
death. Capacity to act, which is the power to do acts with legal effect, is
acquired and may be lost.
Capacity may be:
i. Juridical capacity
-synonymous to legal capacity and to personality.
-refer to the aptitude for the holding and enjoyment of rights.
-is just one, indivisible, irreducible, and essentially the same for all men.
-attaches by mere fact of being a man.
ii. Capacity to act
-refers to the aptitude for the exercise of rights.
-often referred to as merely capacity.
-is conditional and variable.
-is acquired and may be lost.
-requires both intelligence and will.
*Juridical capacity can exist without the capacity to act, but the
existence of the latter implies that of the former.
ART. 38. Minority, insanity or imbecility, the state of being deaf-mute,
prodigality and civil interdiction are mere restrictions on capacity to act,
and do not exempt the incapacitated person from certain obligations, as
when the latter arise from his acts or from property relations, such as
easements.
*The causes of incapacity enumerated are not the only causes of
incapacity.
i. Minority
-age of majority commences upon the attainment of the age of 18 years
(R.A. 6809).
-a person below such age is a minor, and has a limited capacity to act.
ii. Insanity or imbecility
-insanity includes the various forms of mental disease, either inherited
or acquired, in which there is a perversion of the mentality, as when the
person is suffering from illusions, hallucinations or delusions, unnatural
exaltation or depression or insane ideas of persecution or power.
-an insane person cannot make a valid will or testament (Art. 798); and
he cannot validly give consent to contracts (Art. 1327, par. 2).
-a person may not be insane, but only mentally deficient. The idiot
belongs to the lowest class of mentally defective; the feeble-minded or
moron to the highest group; and the imbecile, to the medium.
iii. Deaf-mutism
-deaf-mutes are now considered as capable of entering into contracts if
shown to have sufficient mental capacity.
-a deaf-mute can make a valid will, so long as its contents have been
communicated or made known to him (Art. 807).
-if a deaf-mute does not know how to read and write, he cannot give
consent to contracts (Art. 1327, par. 2) and he cannot personally accept
or repudiate an inheritance (Art. 1048).
iv. Civil interdiction
-is an accessory penalty imposed upon persons who are sentenced to a
principal penalty not lower than reclusion temporal (Art. 41, RPC).
-it deprives the offender during the time of his sentence of the rights of
parental authority, or guardianship, either as to the person or property
of any ward, of marital authority, of the right to manage his property,
and of the right to dispose of such property by any act or any conveyance
inter vivos.
v. Prodigality
-a spendthrift or prodigal is a person who, by excessive drinking,
gambling, idleness or debauchery of any kind shall so spend, waste or
lessen his estate as to expose himself or his family to want or suffering.
-it must show a morbid state of mind and disposition to spend, waste
and lessen the estate.
-prodigality in itself does not limit the capacity of a person to act. He
may enter into contracts and make wills; but he may be placed under
guardianship as an incompetent (Rule 93, Sec. 2, ROC).
-it is not the circumstance of prodigality, but the fact of being under
guardianship, that restricts the capacity to act.
ART. 39. The following circumstances, among others, modify or limit
capacity to act: age, insanity, imbecility, the state of being a deaf-mute,
penalty, prodigality, family relations, alienage, absence, insolvency and
trusteeship. The consequences of these circumstances are governed in
this Code, other codes, the Rules of Court, and in special laws. Capacity
to act is not limited on account of religious belief or political opinion.
A married woman, eighteen years of age or over, is qualified for all acts
of civil life, except in cases specified by law.
*The enumeration made here and in the previous article is not exclusive
of other circumstances modifying capacity to act. They are merely
general statements of principles.
Incompetents under Rules 93, Sec. 2, ROC:
i. Persons suffering from the penalty of civil interdiction
ii. Hospitalized lepers
iii. Prodigals
iv. Deaf and dumb who are unable to read and write
v. Those of unsound mind even though they have lucid intervals
vi. Persons not being of unsound mind but by reason of age, disease,
weak mind, and other similar causes, cannot without aid, take care of
themselves and manage their property, becoming thereby an easy prey
for deceit and exploitation.
*Family relations. Ascendants and descendants, brothers and sisters,
and collateral relatives within the fourth civil degree cannot validly
marry as they would be incestuous and against public policy. Husband
and wife, during their marriage, cannot give donations to each other.
*Citizenship.
*Absence. A person is absent when he disappears from his domicile,
and his whereabouts are unknown (Art. 381). Continued absence may
even give rise to the presumption of his death (Art. 390).
*Insolvency and trusteeship. When a person has been adjudicated as an
insolvent, his capacity to dispose of his property becomes limited. He
cannot dispose of his property existing at the time of the commencement
of the insolvency proceedings and no payments of property can be made
to him.
*Physical condition. Impotence is a ground for annulment of marriage
(Art. 45, FC). A person who is blind, or deaf or dumb cannot be a
witness to the execution of a will (Art. 820).
*Religious belief, political opinion, race, nobility. These are
circumstances that do not affect capacity.
B. Commencement and termination of personality
1. Natural Persons: NCC 40-41
ART. 40. Birth determines personality; but the conceived child shall be
considered born for all purposes that are favorable to it, provided it be
born later with the conditions specified in the following article.
*The existence of personality of natural persons depends upon birth.
Birth means removal of the foetus from the mothers womb, which may
take place either naturally or artificially.
*Before birth, the foetus is not a person. However, because of the
expectancy that it may be born, the law protects it and reserves its rights,
making its legal existence, if it should be born alive, retroact to the
moment of its conception. The law considers the conceived child as born
for all purposes favorable to it, if it is later born alive.

*Legally, in a normal child, the period of conception is the first 120 days
of the 300 days preceding the birth of the child.
*The conceived child can acquired and enjoy rights while it is in the
mothers womb. It may be given donations or it can inherit by will or
by intestacy. These rights embrace both personal (e.g. right to support
and damages) and property rights.
ART. 41. For civil purposes, the foetus is considered born if it is alive
at the time it is completely delivered from the mothers womb.
However, if the foetus had an intra-uterine life of less than seven
months, it is not deemed born if it dies within twenty-four hours after
its complete delivery from the maternal womb.
*Total separation of the foetus from the mothers womb is produced by
the cutting of the umbilical cord.
*All that the law requires is that the child be alive at the time of complete
separation from the mothers womb for acquisition of juridical
personality. The duration of extra-uterine life is immaterial.
*Test of life. It must be shown that the child had an independent life
which can be shown by complete respiration. The cry of the child or the
floating of the lungs when placed in water are indications of complete
respiration. In contrast, pulsations, convulsive movements, and
incomplete convulsive respiration are frequently a mere continuation of
intra-uterine life.
*Viability is not required. Viability means that the child is capable of
living, and this is determined by the extent of the development of its
organs.
*Juridical personality is acquired even if the survival for twenty-four
hours is caused only by medical or scientific means without which the
child would have died before the lapse of that period.
1987 CONSTITUTION
ART. II, SEC. 12. The State recognizes the sanctity of family
life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic
autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of
the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The
natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of
the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral
character shall receive the support of the Government.
P.D. 603 (THE CHILD AND YOUTH WELFARE CODE)
ART. 5. Commencement of Civil Personality. - The civil
personality of the child shall commence from the time of his
conception, for all purposes favorable to him, subject to the
requirements of Article 41 of the Civil Code.
FAMILY CODE
ART. 164. Children conceived or born during the marriage of
the parents are legitimate.
Children conceived as a result of artificial insemination of the
wife with the sperm of the husband or that of a donor or both are
likewise legitimate children of the husband and his wife,
provided, that both of them authorized or ratified such
insemination in a written instrument executed and signed by
them before the birth of the child. The instrument shall be
recorded in the civil registry together with the birth certificate of
the child.
REVISED PENAL CODE
ART. 256. Intentional abortion. - Any person who shall
intentionally cause an abortion shall suffer:
1. The penalty of reclusion temporal, if he shall use any violence
upon the person of the pregnant woman.
2. The penalty of prision mayor if, without using violence, he
shall act without the consent of the woman.
3. The penalty of prision correccional in its medium and
maximum periods, if the woman shall have consented.
 ART. 257. Unintentional abortion. - The penalty of prision
correccional in its minimum and medium period shall be
imposed upon any person who shall cause an abortion by
violence, but unintentionally.
ART. 258. Abortion practiced by the woman herself of by her
parents. - The penalty of prision correccional in its medium and
maximum periods shall be imposed upon a woman who shall
practice abortion upon herself or shall consent that any other
person should do so.
Any woman who shall commit this offense to conceal her
dishonor, shall suffer the penalty of prision correccional in its
minimum and medium periods.
If this crime be committed by the parents of the pregnant woman
or either of them, and they act with the consent of said woman
for the purpose of concealing her dishonor, the offenders shall
suffer the penalty of prision correccional in its medium and
maximum periods.
ART. 259. Abortion practiced by a physician or midwife and
dispensing of abortives. - The penalties provided in Article 256
shall be imposed in its maximum period, respectively, upon any
physician or midwife who, taking advantage of their scientific
knowledge or skill, shall cause an abortion or assist in causing
the same.
Any pharmacist who, without the proper prescription from a
physician, shall dispense any abortive shall suffer arresto
mayor and a fine not exceeding 1,000 pesos.
ART. 42. Civil personality is extinguished by death. The effect of death
upon the rights and obligations of the deceased is determined by law, by
contract, and by will.
*This refers to natural or physical death. The law does not recognized
the so-called civil death.
*Effect on rights. Some of a persons rights and obligations are
completely extinguished, while other are transmitted to his successors,
the extent of which depends upon the law, the contract, or the will
involved.
ART. 43. If there is doubt, as between two or more persons who are
called to succeed each other, as to which of them died first, whoever
alleges the death of one prior to the other, shall prove the same; in the
absence of proof, it is presumed that they died at the same time and there
shall be no transmission of rights from one to other.
*This applies only when the question of survivorship involves persons
who are called to succeed each other, whether the death be actual or
merely presumed from absence or other circumstances. Hence, it cannot
apply to other cases which do not involve succession.
*While the Civil Code establishes a presumption of simultaneous death,
the ROC establishes a presumption of priority of death occurring in
calamities.
i.e. That except for purposes of succession, when two persons
perish in the same calamity, such as wreck, battle, or
conflagration, and it is not shown who died first, and there are
no particular circumstances from which it can be inferred, the
survivorship is determined from the probabilities resulting from
the strength and the age of the sexes, according to the following
rules:
1. If both were under the age of fifteen years, the older is deemed
to have survived;
2. If both were above the age sixty, the younger is deemed to
have survived;
3. If one is under fifteen and the other above sixty, the former is
deemed to have survived;
4. If both be over fifteen and under sixty, and the sex be
different, the male is deemed to have survived, if the sex be the
same, the older;
5. If one be under fifteen or over sixty, and the other between
those ages, the latter is deemed to have survived.
2. Juridical Persons: NCC 44-47
ART. 44. The following are juridical persons:
1. The State and its political subdivisions;
2. Other corporations, institutions, and entities for public interest or
purpose, created by law; their personality begins as soon as they have
been constituted according to law;
3. Corporations, partnerships and associations for private interest or
purpose to which the law grants a juridical personality, separate and
distinct from that of each shareholder, partner or member.
*A juridical person is an abstract being, formed for the realization of
collective purposes, to which the law has granted capacity for rights and
obligations. However, its personality is manifested only in the realm of
patrimonial relations; it has no family and personal rights.
Three groups of juridical persons:
i. the State and its political subdivisions such as provinces, cities, and
municipalities
ii. Juridical persons for public interest or purpose
iii. Juridical persons for private interest or purpose
*A corporation is an artificial being created by operation of law, having
the right of succession and the powers, attributes, and properties
expressly authorized by law or incident to its existence. The Roman
Catholic is recognized as a juridical person in the Philippines.
*Corporations may be public or private. Public corporations are those
formed or organized for the government of a portion of the State. Private
corporations are those formed for some private purpose, benefit, aim, or
end.
*The fact that the government happens to be a stockholder therein does
not make it a public corporation.
*Juridical personality is not a necessary or indispensable attribute for
the operation of every association or organization.
ART. 45. Juridical persons mentioned in Nos. 1 and 2 of the preceding
article are governed by the laws creating or recognizing them.
Private corporations are regulated by laws of general application on the
subject.
Partnerships and associations for private interest or purpose are
governed by the provisions of this Code concerning partnerships.
*The State is governed by the provisions of the Constitution; provinces
and municipalities are governed by the LGC and RAC; and chartered
cities, by their respective charters.
*Corporations created by special charter are governed primarily by such
charter; and those created under general law are governed by the
Corporation Law.
ART. 46. Juridical persons may acquire and possess property of all
kinds, as well as incur obligations and bring civil or criminal actions, in
conformity with the laws and regulations of their organization.
*The juridical person is not completely at par with natural persons as to
capacity, because it cannot exercise rights which presuppose physical
existence such as family rights, making of wills, etc. But like natural
persons, it can have nationality, a domicile, a name, a right to reputation,
and the capacity for relations. It can own and possess property, dispose
of such property, enter into contracts, and inherit by will. It can also
incur obligations.
ART. 47. Upon the dissolution of corporations, institutions and other
entities for public interest or purpose mentioned in No. 2 of Article 44,
their property and other assets shall be disposed of in pursuance of law
or the charter creating them. If nothing has been specified on this point,
the property and other assets shall be applied to similar purposes for the
benefit of the region, province, city or municipality which during the
existence of the institution derived the principal benefits from the same.