Fonacier, Gian Carlo P.

3-S

2018400228 Atty. Jacome

The Practice of Torts Law in the Philippines

The Practice of Torts law in the Philippines is patterned in the American tort law which

created the belief and impression in the minds of many that the foundation of the law on torts in

the Philippines was common and not civil law. Guided by these considerations and there being

no other materials available along the lines other than those Articles 1902 to 1910 of the Spanish

Civil Code. The Civil Code of the Philippines never used the word ‘tort’ in any of its provisions.

Instead, the term ‘quasi-delict’ is used which is the nearest counterpart of the Roman law

concept. Unlike the Roman law concept of ‘tort’, intentional and malicious acts are governed by

the Revised Penal Code and not by the law on quasi-delict. These provisions of the Civil Code

dealt with what was known as the “Culpa extra-contractual” or the “Culpa Aquiliana” of the

Roman law.

The provisions of the Civil Code were one of the sources and foundation of Philippine

tort law as well as the jurisprudence in the decisions of our Supreme Court as reported in the

Philippine Reports. It was then expounded to the subject of “Torts and Damages” from the

viewpoint of Philippine law.Years later it improve the materials as the years went by as

Philippine law of torts has made vast strides and progress with undue concentration being

focused on local tort law namely quasi-delicts. At present, almost every tort case is treated as a
quasi-delict, with the result that quasi-delicts have pre-empted the area of tort law reserved for

intentional torts.

The Supreme Court, borrowing the American intentional tort principles and injecting the

same into our concept of quasi-delict as embodied in the Civil Code, is civil law in origin,

tracing its roots in Roman and Spansih legal concepts, while American tort law is common law.