THE CIVIL CODE OF

THE PHILIPPINES
Republic Act No. 386
  AN ACT TO ORDAIN AND INSTITUTE THE CIVIL CODE OF THE
Civil Code of PHILIPPINES
the Philippines  Republic Act No. 386
 Article 1. This Act shall be known as the "Civil Code of the
Philippines." (n)

 Article 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. (1a)

 The Official Gazette is the official journal of the Republic of the

Philippines.
 15-day publication requirement - due process
 Article 3. Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance
therewith. (2)

 Article 4. Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the

contrary is provided. (3)

 Article 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. (4a)
 General Rule: Rights may be waived.
 Exception: When the waiver is contrary to law, public order, public
policy, morals or good customs.

 VALID WAIVER
 1. The person waiving must be capacitated to make the waiver
(waiver of minor or insane persons is voidable);
 2. The waiver must be made clearly;
 3. The person waiving must have the right which he is renouncing;
and
 4. The waiver must not be contrary to law, public order, public
policy, morals or good customs.
 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 Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their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. (5a)

 Article 8. Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or

the Constitution shall form a part of the legal system of the
Philippines. (n)
 Article 11. Customs which are contrary to law, public order or
public policy shall not be countenanced. (n)
 Article 12. A custom must be proved as a fact, according to the
rules of evidence. (n)

 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.
In computing a period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last
day included. (7a)
 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.
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. (11a)
 DOCTRINE OF LEX LOCI CELEBRATIONIS
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.

Example: A contract entered into by a Filipino in Japan will be

governed by Japanese law insofar as form and solemnities of
contract are concerned.
 Article 19. Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in
the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his
due, and observe honesty and good faith.

 Rights must never be abused; the moment they are abused, they
cease to be right.

 An institution of learning has a contractual obligation to afford to

students a fair opportunity to complete the course they seek to
pursue, but when a student commits a serious breach of discipline or
fails to maintain the required academic standard, he forfeits his
contractual right (Magtibay vs. Garcia, G.R. No. 28971, January 28,
1983).
 Article 20. Every person who, contrary to law, willfully or
negligently causes damage to another, shall indemnify the latter
for the same.

 Article 21. Any person who willfully causes loss or injury to

another in manner that is contrary to morals, good customs or
public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.
 The existing rule is that a breach of promise to marry per se is not an
actionable wrong.

 In the light of the above laudable purpose of Article 21, We are of the
opinion, and so hold, that where a man's promise to marry is in
fact the proximate cause of the acceptance of his love by a
woman and his representation to fulfill that promise thereafter
becomes the proximate cause of the giving of herself unto him in
a sexual congress, x x x x could justify the award of damages
pursuant to Article 21 not because of such promise to marry but
because of the fraud and deceit behind it and the willful injury to her
honor and reputation which followed thereafter (Gashem Shookat
Baksh vs. Hon. Court of Appeals and Marilou T. Gonzales, G.R. No.
97336, February 19, 1993).
THE FAMILY CODE OF
THE PHILIPPINES
Executive Order No. 209
  Art. 209. Pursuant to the natural right and duty of parents over
Parental the person and property of their unemancipated children, parental
authority and responsibility shall include the caring for and rearing
Authority them for civic consciousness and efficiency and the development
of their moral, mental and physical character and well-being. (n)
  PARENTAL AUTHORITY (Patria Potestas)

 Refers to the sum total of the right of parents over the persons
and property of their children.

Parental  Kinds of parental authority: over the persons; and over the
property.
Authority
 Parental authority, like every other power, is capable of being
abused. When this happens, courts may deprive the parents of the
authority, or suspend the exercise of the same.
  PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES VS. DAVID SILVANO Y HAYAG
(G.R. No. 127356 June 29, 1999)

Parental  The victim (16) testified that her father told her that she will be
Authority punished for coming home late and the punishment is to have
sexual intercourse with him. The father has been inflicting this
kind of punishment since the victim was only 13 years old.
  This ratiocination is the product of a sick mind of an equally sick
parent who does not deserve to be such.

Parental
 Although the Family Code recognizes the parents' rights and
Authority duties to "impose discipline" on the unemancipated children; x x
x x it does not authorize them to force their offspring to
copulate with them under the mask of discipline, or invade their
honor and violate their dignity nor does it give them the license to
ravish the product of their marital union.
  Art. 216. In default of parents or a judicially appointed guardian,
the following person shall exercise substitute parental authority
over the child in the order indicated:
Substitute and  (1) The surviving grandparent, as provided in Art. 214;

Special  (2) The oldest brother or sister, over twenty-one years of age,
unless unfit or disqualified; and
Parental  (3) The child's actual custodian, over twenty-one years of age,
Authority unless unfit or disqualified.
 Whenever the appointment or a judicial guardian over the
property of the child becomes necessary, the same order of
preference shall be observed. (349a, 351a, 354a)
Substitute and  Art. 217. In case of foundlings, abandoned neglected or abused
Special children and other children similarly situated, parental authority
shall be entrusted in summary judicial proceedings to heads of
Parental children's homes, orphanages and similar institutions duly
accredited by the proper government agency. (314a)
Authority
  Art. 218. The school, its administrators and teachers, or the
Substitute and individual, entity or institution engaged in child care shall have
Special special parental authority and responsibility over the minor child
while under their supervision, instruction or custody.
Parental  Authority and responsibility shall apply to all authorized activities
Authority whether inside or outside the premises of the school, entity or
institution. (349a)
  SPECIAL PARENTAL AUTHORITY
Substitute and
Special  School, its administrators and teachers - special parental
Parental authority and responsibility over the minor child while under their
supervision, instruction or custody. (In loco parentis – act in place
Authority of the parent)
  ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE, SR. JOSEPHINI AMBATALI, SFIC, and
ROSALINDA TABUGO vs. JAYSON MIRANDA, represented by
his father, RODOLFO S. MIRANDA (G.R. No. 182353, June 29,
Substitute and 2010)
Special
Parental  November 17, 1994 – Jayson’s class was conducting a science
experiment about fusion of sulphur powder and iron fillings under
Authority the tutelage of Rosalinda Tabugo, she being the subject teacher
and employee of SJC.
  Tabugo left her class while it was doing the experiment without
having adequately secured it from any untoward incident or
occurrence.

Substitute and  In the middle of the experiment, Jayson checked the result of the
experiment by looking into the test tube with magnifying glass.
Special The test tube was being held by one of his group mates who
moved it close and towards the eye of Jayson.
Parental  At that instance, the compound in the test tube spurted out and
Authority several particles of which hit Jayson’s eye and the different parts
of the bodies of some of his group mates. As a result thereof,
Jayson’s eyes were chemically burned, particularly his left eye, for
which he had to undergo surgery and had to spend for his
medication.
  SUPREME COURT: As earlier discussed, the proximate cause of
[Jayson’s] injury was the explosion of the heated compound
independent of any efficient intervening cause.
Substitute and  The negligence on the part of [petitioner] Tabugo in not making
sure that the science experiment was correctly conducted was the
Special proximate cause or reason why the heated compound exploded
Parental and injured not only [Jayson] but his classmates as well.
 However, [Jayson] is partly responsible for his own injury, hence,
Authority he should not be entitled to recover damages in full but must
likewise bear the consequences of his own negligence.
[Petitioners], therefore, should be held liable only for the damages
actually caused by their negligence.
  Paras, E. L. (2013). Civil Code of the Philippines Annotated.
Seventeenth Edition. Rex Book Store
REFERENCES