REPUBLIC ACT NO.
386
"AN ACT TO ORDAIN AND INSTITUTE THE CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
PRELIMINARY TITLE"
CHAPTER 1
Effect and Application of Laws
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 either in the
Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines, unless it is otherwise provided.
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 5. Acts executed against the provisions of mandatory or prohibitory laws shall be void, except when
the law itself authorizes their validity. (4a)
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)
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 Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their violation or non-observance shall not be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 declare 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 part of the legal
system of the Philippines. (n)
ARTICLE 9. No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the silence, obscurity or
insufficiency of the laws. (6)
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. (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 14. Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be obligatory upon all who live or
sojourn in Philippine territory, subject to the principles of public international law and to treaty stipulations.
(8a)
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. (9a)
ARTICLE 16. Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of the country where it is
situated.
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. (10a)
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)
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. (16a)
CHAPTER 2
Human Relations (n)
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.
ARTICLE 20. Every person who, contrary to law, wilfully or negligently causes damage to another, shall
indemnify the latter for the same.
ARTICLE 21. Any person who wilfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner that is contrary to morals,
good customs or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.
ARTICLE 22. Every person who through an act of performance by another, or any other means, acquires or
comes into possession of something at the expense of the latter without just or legal ground, shall return the
same to him.
ARTICLE 23. Even when an act or event causing damage to another’s property was not due to the fault or
negligence of the defendant, the latter shall be liable for indemnity if through the act or event he was benefited.
ARTICLE 24. In all contractual, property or other relations, when one of the parties is at a disadvantage on
account of his moral dependence, ignorance, indigence, mental weakness, tender age or other handicap, the
courts must be vigilant for his protection.
ARTICLE 25. Thoughtless extravagance in expenses for pleasure or display during a period of acute public
want or emergency may be stopped by order of the courts at the instance of any government or private
charitable institution.
ARTICLE 26. Every person shall respect the dignity, personality, privacy and peace of mind of his neighbors
and other persons. The following and similar acts, though they may not constitute a criminal offense, shall
produce a cause of action for damages, prevention and other relief:
(1) Prying into the privacy of another’s residence;
(2) Meddling with or disturbing the private life or family relations of another; dumrrI
(3) Intriguing to cause another to be alienated from his friends;
(4) Vexing or humiliating another on account of his religious beliefs, lowly station in life, place of birth,
physical defect, or other personal condition.
ARTICLE 27. Any person suffering material or moral loss because a public servant or employee refuses or
neglects, without just cause, to perform his official duty may file an action for damages and other relief against
the latter, without prejudice to any disciplinary administrative action that may be taken.
ARTICLE 28. Unfair competition in agricultural, commercial or industrial enterprises or in labor through the
use of force, intimidation, deceit, machination or any other unjust, oppressive or highhanded method shall
give rise to a right of action by the person who thereby suffers damage.
ARTICLE 29. When the accused in a criminal prosecution is acquitted on the ground that his guilt has not
been proved beyond reasonable doubt, a civil action for damages for the same act or omission may be
instituted. Such action requires only a preponderance of evidence. Upon motion of the defendant, the court
may require the plaintiff to file a bond to answer for damages in case the complaint should be found to be
malicious.
If in a criminal case the judgment of acquittal is based upon reasonable doubt, the court shall so declare. In the
absence of any declaration to that effect, it may be inferred from the text of the decision whether or not the
acquittal is due to that ground.
ARTICLE 30. When a separate civil action is brought to demand civil liability arising from a criminal offense,
and no criminal proceedings are instituted during the pendency of the civil case, a preponderance of evidence
shall likewise be sufficient to prove the act complained of
