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ARTICLE 1: This Act shall be known as the Civil Code of the Philippines

ARTICLE 2: Laws shall take effect 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 publication.

 When laws does not explicitly provide for its effectivity, it shall have effect only
after the expiration of the fifteen day period following the completion of its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the
Philippines.

 Publication must be in full or it is not published at all.

 After the completion of the publication requirement, the people are deemed to
have conclusively been notified of the law even if actually the people have not
read them.

 EXCEPTIONS: interpretative regulations and those merely internal in

nature, that is regulating only the personnel of the administrative agency and not
the public; letters of instructions issued by administrative superiors
concerning rules or guidelines to be followed by their subordinates in the
performance of their duties.

 UNLESS IT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED: solely refers to the fifteen day period

and not the requirement of publication. Publication is an indispensable requisite,
the absence of which will not render the law effective.

 Omission of Publication will offend DUE PROCESS.

 If the law provides for a different period shorter or longer than the fifteen day
period, then such shorter or longer period will prevail. If the law provides that it
shall take effect immediately, it means that it shall take effect immediately after
the fifteen day publication.

ARTICLE 3: Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith.

 Conclusion Presumption: completion of the law’s publication making it

effective, places the public in a presumption that they already know the law, even
if they have not read them or has no actual knowledge of it.

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 Article 3 applies only to mandatory and prohibitory laws.

 Article 3 is a necessary consequence of mandatory provision that all laws be

published. Without such notice and publication, there will be no legal basis for the
application of the maxim “ignorantia legis non excusat”.

ARTICLE 4: Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is provided.

 The laws look to the future and has no retroactive effect unless the legislature
may have given that effect to some legal provisions, and that statues are to be
construed as having only prospective operation, unless the purpose and intention
of the legislature to give them a retrospective effect is expressly declared or is
necessarily implied from the language used. In case of doubt, the same must
be resolved against the retrospective effect.

 Laws have retroactive effect unless such intent is expressly declared or clearly
and necessarily implied from the language of the enactment.

EXCEPTIONS:

1. When the law expressly provides for retroactivity

 No ex post facto law must be passed – is one the makes criminal an act
done before the passing of the law and which was innocent when done,
and punishes such act.

 A law can have retroactive effect insofar as it does not prejudice or impair
vested or acquired rights in accordance with the Civil Code or other laws.

2. When the law is curative or remedial

 not within the constitutional inhibitions or retrospective legislation impairing

the obligation of contracts or disturbing vested rights.

 The legislature has power to pass healing acts which do not impair the
obligations of contracts nor interfere with vested rights.

 They are remedial by curing defects and adding to the means of enforcing
existing obligations.

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 RULE: If the thing omitted or failed to be done, and which constitutes the
defect sought to be removed or make harmless, is something which the
legislature might have dispensed with by previous statutes, it may do so by
subsequent ones.

 If the irregularity consists in doing some act, or doing it in the mode which the
legislature might have made immaterial by an express law, it may do so by
subsequent one.

 Government vs Municipality of Binalonan: not to fill a void, but to

remedy the shortcomings of existing legislation on the same subject

 PP vs Zeta: must be given prospective application only, and may not be

given retroactive effect such as to affect rights that had accrued under a
contract expressly sanctioned by a previous law 

3. When the law is procedural

- When the statue deals with procedure only

- A law prescribing the form of pleadings will apply to all pleadings filed after its
enactment, although the action is begun before that time.

4. If a substantive right be declared for the first time

- Substantive right: a right (as of life, liberty, property, or reputation) held to

exist for its own sake and to constitute part of the normal legal order of
society

- Vested right: some right or interest in property that has become so fixed
and established that it is no longer open to controversy. It may also be
defined as such right the deprivation of which would amount to a deprivation
of property without due process of law. A right is also vested when it has so
far been perfected that nothing remains to be done by the party
asserting it.

5. When the law is penal in nature, provided that:

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 It is favourable to the accused or to the convict;

 The accused or convict is not a habitual delinquent
 Habitual Delinquent (Rule 5, Art 62 RPC): a person shall be deemed to be
habitual delinquent, is within a period of ten years from the date of his release
or last conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical
injuries, robo, hurto, estafa or falsification, he is found guilty of any of said
crimes a third time or oftener

ARTICLE 5: Acts executed against the provisions of mandatory or prohibitory

laws shall be void, except when the law itself authorizes their validity.

 MANDATORY PROVISION OF LAW: the omission of which renders the

proceeding or acts to which it relates illegal or void.

Kinds of Mandatory Legislation:

a. Positive – when something must be done

b. Negative or Prohibitory – when something should not be done

 PROHIBITORY LAWS: Example, “No decree of legal separation shall be based

upon a stipulation of facts or a confession of judgement.”

 EXCEPTIONS:

1. When the law makes the act not void but merely voidable, at the
instance of the victim.

Ex: Although consent of the parties is essential for a valid marriage,

if that consent is vitiated by intimidation or fraud, the marriage is not
null and void, but only voidable.

Ex: A contract entered into by a municipal council for the lease of

certain fisheries without the approval of the provincial governor is
only voidable (Mun. of Camiling vs Lopez)

a. When the law makes the act valid but subjects the wrongdoer to
criminal responsibility.

Ex: A widow generally must wait for 300 days before she can
remarry. If she violates this ad she marries again, the marriage is
valid, as long as she was able to obtain a marriage license without
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prejudice to her criminal liability. If she marries without the requisite

marriage license, the marriage shall be void under the law.

2. When the law makes the act itself void, but recognizes some legal
effects flowing therefrom.

Ex: A brother cannot marry his sister, and therefore, any child they
would have would be spurious. If however, they marry first before
having the child, the child would be a natural child by legal fiction if
the marriage is void.

3. When the law itself makes certain acts valid although generally they
would have been void

Ex: Sweepstakes, is a game of chance. But the law itself allows

gambling.

ARTICLE 6: Rights may be waived, unless the waiver is contrary to law, public
policy, morals or good customs, or prejudicial to a third person with a right
recognized by law.

 WAIVER: is the intentional relinquishment of a known right.

 RIGHT: the power or privilege given to one person and as a rule demandable of
another.

KINDS OF RIGHTS:

1. Real rights (jus in re, jus in rem) – enforceable against the whole world.
2. Personal rights (jus in personam, jus ad rem) – enforceable against a
particular individual

 Castro vs. Del Rosario: Waiver is the intentional relinquishment of a known

right. Waiver must be based on more concrete grounds. The evidence must be
sufficient and clear to warrant a finding that the intent to waive is unmistakable.

 Waiver by Election (Consuji vs CA): The choice of a party between

inconsistent remedies results in a waiver by election. Hence, the rule
in Floresca that a claimant cannot simultaneously pursue recovery under the
Labor Code and prosecute an ordinary course of action under the Civil Code.

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The claimant, by his choice of one remedy, is deemed to have waived the
other.

GENERAL RULE: Rights may be waived

EXCEPTIONS:
a. When the waiver is contrary to law, public order, public policy, morals or good
customs.

b. When the waiver is prejudicial to a third person with a right recognized by law.

REQUISITES OF A VALID WAIVER

a. The person waiving must be capacitated to make the waiver (A waiver by

a minor is voidable;

b. The waiver must be clearly, but not necessarily expressed;

c. The person waiving must actually have the right which he is renouncing,
otherwise he will not be renouncing anything;

d. In certain instances, the waiver as in the express remission of a debt owed

in favor of the waiver, must comply with the formalities of a donation
(Art 1270 Civil Code)

Article 1270. Condonation or remission is essentially gratuitous, and requires the

acceptance by the obligor. It may be made expressly or impliedly.

One and the other kind shall be subject to the rules which govern inofficious donations.
Express condonation shall, furthermore, comply with the forms of donation.

e. The waiver must not be contrary to law, morals, public policy, public
safety, good customs (the aim of the state in promoting the social
welfare of the people);

f. The waiver must not prejudice others with a right recognized by law

EXAMPLES OF RIGHTS THAT CANNOT BE WAIVED: REFER TO BOOK

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EXAMPLES OF RIGHTS THAT CAN BE WAIVED: REFER TO BOOK

 DOCTRINE OF INTERGENERATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY:

Background and history

The Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and his predecessors
have granted timber license agreements (TLA) to various corporations to cut the aggregate area of 3.89
million hectares for commercial logging purposes.
Petitioners, through their parents, sought to make the DENR Secretary stop issuing licenses to cut timber,
invoking their right to a healthy environment pursuant to Sections 15 and 16 of Article II of the 1987
Constitution of the Philippines. The petitioners further asserted that they "represent their generation as
well as generations yet unborn." They further claimed that the Secretary committed grave abuse of
discretion in granting TLAs to cover more areas for logging than what is available. Respondent, on the
other hand, filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that the complaint had no cause of action against him
and that it raises a political question.
The Judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Makati sustained the dismissal and ruled that granting of
the relief prayed for by petitioners would result in the impairment of contracts which is prohibited by the
Constitution

Doctrine of intergenerational responsibility

The Court did not agree with the arguments of the respondent. The complaint focuses on one
fundamental legal right — the right to a balanced and healthful ecology which is incorporated in the
Constitution. It carries with it the duty to refrain from impairing the environment and implies, among many
other things, the judicious management and conservation of the country's forests. Section 4 of E.O. 192
expressly mandates the DENR to be the primary government agency responsible for the governing and
supervising the exploration, utilization, development and conservation of the country's natural resources.
Such policy is also substantially re-stated in the Administrative Code of 1987. Both E.O. 192 and
Administrative Code of 1987 have set the objectives which will serve as the bases for policy formation,
and have defined the powers and functions of the DENR. Thus, right of the petitioners to a balanced and
healthful ecology is as clear as the DENR's duty to protect and advance the said right.
The Court found no difficulty in ruling that they can, for themselves, for others of their generation and for
the succeeding generations, file a class suit. Their personality to sue in behalf of the succeeding
generations can only be based on the concept of intergenerational responsibility insofar as the right to a
balanced and healthful ecology is concerned. Such a right, as hereinafter expounded, considers the
"rhythm and harmony of nature."
The Court further elicited that every generation has a responsibility to the next to preserve that rhythm
and harmony for the full enjoyment of a balanced and healthful ecology. [2]

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.

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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)

 REPEAL: Is the legislative act of abrogating through a subsequent law the

effects of a previous statute or portions thereof.

 HOW LAWS ARE REPEALED:

1. Express Repeal – when it is literally declared by a new law, either in
specific terms, as where particular laws and provisions are named and
identified and declared to be repealed, or in general terms, as where a
provision in a new law declares all laws and parts of laws inconsistent
therewith to be repealed

2. Implied Repeal – takes place when a new law contains provisions

contrary to or inconsistent with an old law, without expressly repealing
them (25 RCL 911)

But repeals and amendments by implications are not favoured

(Quimsing vs LAchica, 2 SCRA 182)

NOTES FROM ILOILO VS CORN PLANTERS ASSOCIATION

 A repealing clause in an Act which provides that “all laws and parts thereof
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly” – CERTAINLY NOT AN EXPRESS REPEALING CLAUSE
BECAUSE IT FAILS TO IDENTIFY OR DESIGNATE THE ACT OR ACTS THAT
ARE INTENDED TO BE REPEALED.

It is a clause which predicates the intended repeal upon condition that substantial
conflict must be found in existing and prior acts.

The presumption against strict construction against implied repeals and the rule
against strict construction: Ex proprio vigore (By its own force or vigor)
 RULES ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION ON REPEAL: A special
statute providing for a particular case or class of cases, is not repealed
by a subsequent statute, general in its terms, provisions and
applications, unless the intent to repeal or alter is manifest, although the

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terms of the general law are broad enough to include cases

embraced in the special law.

 UNCONSTITIONAL STATUES

GENERAL RULE: The Constitution is the supreme, organic and

fundamental law of the land. No ordinary statute can override a
constitutional provision (Floresca vs. Philex Mining Corporation)

PRESUMPTION: In deciding the constitutionality of a statute, every

presumption favors the validity of the statute and whenever possible,
statutes should be given a meaning that will not bring them in conflict with
the Constitution (Noblejas vs Teehankee, 23 SCRA 774)

 PARTIAL UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF STATUTES

GENERAL RULE: Where a portion of a statute is rendered

unconstitutional and the remainder valid, the parts will be separated, and
the constitutional provision is upheld

 EFFECTS WHEN A LAW IS REPEALED:

1. When a Law is Expressly Repeals a Prior Law – The law first repealed
shall not be revived unless expressly so provided.

Example: A is expressly repealed by B. If B is itself repealed by C,

is A revived? NO. Unless expressly so provides.

2. When a law which repeals a prior law, by implication, the repeal of the
repealing law revives the prior law, unless the language of the repealing
statue provides otherwise.

Example: A is impliedly repealed by B. B is later repealed by C. Is A

revived? YES. Unless C provides otherwise.

ARTICLE 8. JUDICIAL DECISIONS APPLYING OR INTERPRETING THE LAWS OR

THE CONSTITUTION SHALL FORM A PART OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF THE
PHILIPPINES. (N)

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 Decisions referred here in Article 8 are the decisions of the Supreme

Court

 Decisions of the lower court are only persuasive in nature and has no
mandatory effect.

 Opinion: informal expression of the views of the Court, it cannot certainly

prevail against its final order or decision

 After the judgment has become final, the issues that were litigated in the
case are no longer debatable by the parties in subsequent proceedings.
(Florentin vs Galera)

EXCEPTION: when its execution becomes IMPOSSIBLE or UNJUST, it

may be modified to harmonize with justice and the facts.

 DOCTRINE OF STARE DECISIS: for the sake of certainty, a

conclusion reached in one case should be applied to those that
follow if the facts are substantially the same, even though the parties
may be different. It proceeds from the first principle of justice that, absent
any powerful countervailing considerations, like cases ought to be
decided alike. Thus, where the same questions relating to the same
event have been put forward by the parties similarly situated as in a
previous case litigated and decided by a competent court, the rule
of stare decisis is a bar to any attempt to relitigate the same issue

 OBITER DICTA: opinions not necessary for the determination of a case.

They are not binding and cannot have the force of judicial precedents. It
merely expresses the view of the dissenter.

HOW JUDICIAL DECISIONS ARE ABROGATED

1. By a contrary ruling by the Supreme Court

2. By corrective legislative act of Congress

 JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS: findings of facts in

such decision should not be disturbed if supported by substantial evidence.

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EXCEPTION: But review is justified when there has been a denial of due
process, or mistake of law, fraud, collusion, or arbitrary action in administrative
proceeding.

 TRIAL COURT CANNOT CHANGE, AMPLIFY, ENLARGE, ALTER OR

MODIFY DECISIONS OF AN APPELAE COURT WHICH IS FINAL AND
EXECUTORY

EXCEPTIONS:

1. A judgment void for lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter can be assailed
at any time either directly or collaterally (Trinidad et al vs Yatco)

2. When after judgment has been rendered and the latter has become final,
facts and circumstances transpire which render its execution impossible or
unjust, the interested party may ask the court to modify or alter the judgment
to harmonize the same with justice with the facts. (City of Butuan vs Ortiz)

 JUDICIAL FUNCTION AND INTERPRETATION: The courts have the principal

function of not only resolving legal controversies but also of interpreting and
construing vague provisions of law relative to a particular dispute.

 Legis interpretatio legis vim obtinet: The construction of law obtains the force
of law.

Article 9. No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the
silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the laws. (6)

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 If the Law is Silent: A judge must give a decision whether he knows what law to
apply or not.

 If the Law is silent, obscure, or insufficient, the Judge may apply any rule he
desires as long as the rule chosen is in harmony with general interest, order,
morals and public policy.

EXAMPLE:

1. Customs which are not contrary to law, public order and public policy (Art 11
Civil Code)
2. Decisions of foreign and local courts on similar case
3. Opinions of highly qualified writers and professors
4. Rules of statutory construction
5. Principles laid down in analogous instances

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)

 First and foremost duty of the court is to apply the law.

 Construction and Interpretation come only after it has been demonstrated that
application is impossible or inadequate without them

 Dura Lex Sed Lex: That law may be hard, but it is still the law.

 IN CASE OF DOUBT: The judge should presume that the “lawmaking body
intended right and justice to prevail”

 Cessante ratione cessat ipsa lex: the law itself ceases if the reason of the law ceases

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