REVIEWER: PERSONS AND FAMILY

INTRODUCTION

Faculties and Objects of the Human Mind

 Intellect-proper object of which is truth
 Will-proper object of which is good

Law Defined: in its most generic signification as an ordinance of reason

promulgated for the common good by Him who is in charge

Classification of Law
Natural Law Natural Moral Law
(promulgated impliedly in our Law of Nature
conscience)
Positive Law Divine Positive Law
(promulgated expressly or directly) Divine Human Positive Law
Human Positive Law

Human Positive Law Defined:

 In general, a reasonable rule of action, expressly or directly promulgated by
competent human authority for the common good, and usually, but not
necessarily, imposing a sanction in case of disobedience.
 Justice Bradley define law as a science of principles by which civil society is
regulated and held together, by which right is enforce, and wrong is detected
and punished
 Sanchez Roman define law as a rule of conduct, just and obligatory,
promulgated by competent authority for common observance and benefit.

Essential Elements of Human Positive Law (RDPG)

 Reasonable rule of action
 Due promulgation
 Promulgation by competent authority
 Generally, a sanction imposed for disobedience

HPG – covers only external conduct; enforced by the State

Morality – covers both external acts and internal thoughts

Bases of HPG (DNLJCC)

 Divine Pronouncements
 Natural and moral nature of man
 Legislative enactments
 Jurisprudence of judicial decisions
 Conventions or treaties
 Customs and traditions

Concepts of Law as “Derecho” and “Ley”

 Cause – derecho – abstract science of law; considered as an effect, it is given
 Ley – specific law
Classification of HPG
 According to Procedure
o Substantive-establishes rights and duties
o Remedial-prescribes the manner of enforcing legal rights and claims
 According to content
o Private Law-regulates the relations of the members of a community
with one another
o Public Law-governs the relations of the individual with the State or ruler
or community as a whole
 According to Force or Effect
o Mandatory-those which have to be complied with because they are
expressive of public policy; disobedience is punished either by direct
penalties or by considering an act or contract void
o Permissive-those which may be deviated from, if the individual so
desires

Civil Law Defined:

 Branch of law that generally trets of the personal and family relations of an
individual, his property and successional rights, and the effects of his
obligations and contracts
 It is a mass of precepts that determine and regulate the relations of
assistance, uthority, and obedience among members of a family, and those
which exist among members of a society for the protection of private interests,
family relations, and property rights.

Civil Law-governs the relations of the members of a community with one another.
Political Law-deals with the relations of the people and the government.

Civil Code – a compilation of all existing civil laws, scientifically arranged into books,
titles, chapters, and sub-heads and promulgated by legislative authority. A
codification may be necessary to provide for simplicity, unity, order and reform in
legislation.

ARTICLE 1: This Act shall be known as the “Civil Code of the Philippines”
 Sources of Civil Code: (CPSR-DDC-GIT)
o The Civil Code of Spain
o The 1935 Philippine Constitution
o Statutes or Laws
o Rules of Court (local and foreign)
o Decisions of local tribunals
o Decisions of foreign tribunals
o Customs and traditions of our people
o General principle of law and equity
o Ideas from the Code Commission
o The Family Code of the Philippines

 Sources of Philippine Civil Law

o The 1935 and 1973 Constitution
 o Statutes, laws, Presidential Decrees, or executive orders which are
applicable
o Administrative or general orders insofar as they are not contrary to
laws or the Constitution
o Customs of the place, provided they are not contrary to existing law,
public order, public policy
o Judicial decisions as well as judicial customs
o Decisions of foreign courts
o Principles covering analogous cases
o Principles of legal hermeneutics
o Equity and the general principles of law

 Books of the Civil Code

o Book I – Persons
o Book II – Property, Ownership and its Modification
o Book III – Different Modes of Acquiring Ownership
o Book IV – Obligations and Contract

 The Code Commission: composed of 5 members; created by then President

Manuel A Roxas through EO 48 dated March 20, 1947. Chairperson – Dean
Jorge Bocobo, Members: Judge Guillermo Guevara, Dean Pedro Ylagan,
Dean Francisco Capistrano and Senator Arturo Tolentino

 The Civil Code contains 2270 articles, 43% of which are completely new
provisions

ARTICLE 2. Laws shall take effect AFTER 15 days following the completion of
publication in the Official Gazette.
o EO 200 dated June 18, 1987 modifying Article 2, now provides for the
publication of laws either in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general
circulation
o General Provisions: Law takes effect on the date it is expressly provided to
take effect and if no such date is provided, after 15 days following the
completion of publication
o Exemptions:
o When the law provides for its own effectivity
o As long as it is not punitive in character
o Effectivity of New Civil Code: August 30, 1950

ARTICLE 3. Ignorance of the law excuses no one (Ignorantia legis non excusat)
o General Rule: applies to all kinds of law whether substantive or remedial on
grounds of expediency, policy, and necessity; applicable to mandatory and
prohibitive laws.
o Mistake of Fact – ignorance of the fact eliminates criminal intent as
long as there is no negligence
o Ignorance of the law as basis of good faith – still liable but his liability
shall be mitigated
ARTICLE 4. Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is provided.
o General Rule. If the applicability of laws are retroactive, grave injustice would
occur.
o Exemptions:
o If the law itself provides for its retroactivity
o If the law is remedial in nature
o If the statute is penal in nature (favorable to the accused as long as not
a habitual delinquent)
o If the law is curative (must not impair vested rights nor affect final
judgments)
o If the substantive right be declared for the first time
o If the law is of an emergency in nature and authorized by the police
power of the government

ARTICLE 5. Acts executed against the provisions of mandatory or prohibitory laws

shall be void, except when the law itself authorizes their validity.
o General Rule. One has to obey mandatory statutes, otherwise his acts would
generally be void. Mandatory legislation are like penal and some contractual
laws
o Exemptions:
o When the law makes the act not void but merely voidable
o When the law makes the act valid, but subjects the wrongdoer to
criminal responsibility
o When the law makes itself void, but recognizes some legal effects
flowing therefrom
o When the law makes certain acts valid although generally they would
have been void

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
o General Rule. Rights may be waived.
o Exemptions.
o When the waiver is contrary to law, public order, public policy, morals,
or good customs
o When the waiver is prejudicial to a third person with a right recognized
by law
o Rights – the power or privilege given to one person and as a rule demandable
of one another
o Real rights (jus in re, jus in rem) – enforceable against the whole world
(absolute rights)
o Personal rights (jus in personam, jus ad rem) – enforceable against a
particular individual (relative rights)
o Waiver – the intentional or voluntary relinquishment of a known right, or such
conduct as warrants an inference of the relinquishment of such right.
o Requisites for a Valid Waiver
o The person waiving must be capacitated to make the waiver.
o The waiver must be made clearly, but not necessarily express.
 o The person waiving must actually have the right which he is
renouncing; otherwise, he will not be renouncing anything
o 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
o The waiver must not be contrary to law, morals, public policy, public
order or good customs
o The waiver must not prejudice others with a right recognized by law

o Rights that cannot be renounced

o Natural rights, such as the right to life
o Alleged rights which really do not yet exist
o Those the renunciation of which would infringe upon public policy (the
right to be hear in court cannot be renounced in advance)
o When the waiver is prejudicial to a third person with a right recognized
by law
o Rights that may be renounced
o Support in arrears
o The right granted to prepare at least two days before trial is waivable
expressly or impliedly
o The right to object to testimony
o The right of the accused to be helped by counsel may be waived
provided the judge informs said accused of his right
o The right of the accused in a criminal case to have a preliminary
investigation may be waived
o The venue of actions may be waived but not the court’s jurisdiction
o An individual who accepts the office of an executor or administrator
may waive compensation therefor
o The right to the back pay of an employee who has been dismissed
without any justifiable cause may be waived by him
o Failure to ask for vacation and sick leave privileges after a period of
more than 5 years

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.
o Laws can be repealed expressly or impliedly
o Expressed repeal, the law first repealed shall not be thereby revived,
unless expressly so provided
o Implied repeal, the repeal of the repealing law revives the prior law,
unless the language of the repealing statute provides otherwise
o Rules for General and Special Laws
o If the general law was enacted PRIOR to the special law, the latter is
considered the exemption to the general rule.
o If the general law was enacted AFTER the special law, the special law
remains unless (there is an express declaration to the contrary; there is
a clear, necessary and unreconcilable conflict; or unless the
subsequent general law covers the whole subject and is clearly
intended to replace the special law on the matter
 o Laws may lapse without the necessity of any repeal as exemplified by the law
granting the President, Emergency Powers or the annual appropriation law.
o Unconstitutional Laws, Treaties, Administrative or Executive Orders
o Rules under the 1935 Constitution (8 out of 11 Justices or simple
majority of 6 out of 11 would suffice to declare an EXECUTIVE OR
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER unconstitutional)
o Rule under the 1973 Constitution (10 out of 14 Justices including the
Chief Justice – no treat, executive agreement, or law may be declared
unconstitutional without the concurrence; all other cases concurrence
of atleast 8 our of 15)
o Rule under the 1987 Constitution (all cases involving the
constitutionality of a treaty, international or executive agreement, or
law, shall be heard by the Supreme Court en banc
 Supreme Court powers: to review, revise, modify or affirm on
appeal or certiorari as the law of the Rules of Court may provide
o Some Grounds for Declaring a Law Unconstitutional
 The enactment of the law may not be within the legislative
powers of the lawmaking body
 Arbitrary methods may have been established
 The purpose or effect violates the Constitution or its basic
principles.
o Unconstitutional law confers no right, creates no office, affords no
protection, and justifies no acts performed under it.
o Operative Fact Doctrine – this is when a legislative or executive act,
prior to its being declared as unconstitutional by the courts, is valid and
must be complied with.

ARTICLE 8. Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution

shall form a part of the legal systems of the Philippines
o Judicial decisions are not laws but they are part of the legal system of the
Philippines, since the court’s construction merely established the
contemporaneous legislative intent that the interpreted law desired to
effectuate.
o Only the decisions of the Supreme Court and unreversed decisions of the
Court of Appeals cases of first impression established jurisprudence in the
Philippines.
o Doctrine of Stare Decisis: once a case has been decided one way, then
another case, involving exactly the same point at issue, should be decided in
the same manner.
o Obiter Dicta: opinions not necessary to the determination of a case. They are
not binding and cannot have the force of judicial precedents. Merely
expresses the view of the dissenter.
o How judicial decisions may be abrogated
o By a contrary ruling by the Supreme Court itself.
o By corrective legislative acts of Congress (Congress cannot alter a
Supreme Court interpretation of a constitutional provision, for this
would be an unwarranted assumption of judicial review).
o Final judgments may be changed when a judgment void for lack of jurisdiction
over the subject matter and when facts and circumstances transpire which
 render its execution impossible or unjust, the interested party may ask the
court to modify or alter the judgement to harmonize the same with justice, and
with the facts.
o The doctrine of finality of judgments is grounded on fundamental
consideration concerning public policy and sound practice that at the risk of
occasional errors, court judgments must become final at some definite date
fixed by law.

ARTICLE 9. No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the

silence, obscurity, or insufficiency of the laws.
o Judge can render judgments through the following: (CDORPGR)
o Customs which are not contrary to law, public order, and public policy
o Decisions of foreign and local courts on similar cases
o Opinions of highly qualified writers and professors
o Rules of statutory construction
o Principles laid down in analogous instances
o General principles of the natural moral law, human law, and equity
o Respect for human dignity and personality
o Does Article 9 apply to criminal cases? In a way, yes. True, an offense is not
a crime unless prohibited and punished by the law applying the rule “nullum
crime, nulla poena sine lege (there is no crime and there is no penalty in the
absence of law), nevertheless, if somebody is accused of a non-existent
crime, the judge must DISMISS the case. This, in reality, is equivalent to a
judicial acquittal.

ARTICLE 10. In case of doubt in interpretation or application of laws, it is presumed

that the lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail.
o Dura lex Sed Lex (the law may be harsh, but it is still the law) – it is the sworn
duty of the judge to apply the law without fear or favor, to follow its mandate,
not to temper with it.
o In case of doubt, the judge should presume that the lawmaking body intended
right and justice to prevail. We should interpret not by the letter that killeth,
but by the spirit that giveth life.
o Some Rules of Statutory Construction
o When a law has been clearly worded, there is no room for
interpretation.
o If there are two possible interpretations or constructions of a law, that
which will achieve the ends desired by Congress should be adopted.
o The following can be considered in interpreting the law (preamble of
the statute, foreign laws from which the law was derived, the history of
the framing of the law, similar laws on the same subject matter
o Patent or obvious mistakes and misprints in the law, may be properly
be corrected by our courts
o Laws of pleadings, practice, and procedure must be liberally construed.
o Laws in derogation of a natural or basic right must be strictly
interpreted.
o The contemporaneous interpretation given by administrative officials to
a law which they are duty bound to enforce or implement deserves
great weight.
ARTICLE 11. Customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall
not be countenanced.
o Custom – is a rule of human action established by repeated acts, and
uniformly observed or practiced as a rule of society through the implicit
approval of the lawmakers, and which is therefor generally obligatory and
legally binding.
o Requisites of Customs
o Must be proved as a fact, according to the rules of evidence
o Must not be contrary to law, public order or public policy
o There must be a number of repeated acts
o The repeated acts must have been uniformly performed
o There must be a juridical intention to make a rule of social conduct
o There must be a sufficient lapse of time
o Law is written, consciously made, and enacted by Congress, a custom is
unwritten, spontaneous, and comes from society.

ARTICLE 12. A custom must be proved as a fact, according to the rules of evidence.
o A custom presumed not to exist when those who should know, do not know of
its existence.
o Kinds of customs:
o A general custom is a custom of the place, one where an act transpires
o Custom may be propter legem (in accordance with law) or contra legim
(against the law).

ARTICLE 13. When the law speaks of years, months, days or nights
Year-365 days
Months-30 days
Day-24 hours
Night-sunset to sunrise
o General Rule. When months are not designated by name, a month is
understood to be only 30 days
o Rule if the last day is a Sunday or a legal holiday
o In an ordinary contract, an act is due even on the last day be it a
Sunday or a legal holiday. This is because obligations arising from
contracts have the force of law between the contracting parties.
o When the time refers to a period prescribed or allowed by the Rules of
Court, by an order of the court, or by any other applicable statute, if the
las day is a Sunday or a legal holiday, it is understood that the last day
should really be the next day, provided said day is neither a Sunday
nor a legal holiday.

ARTICLE 14. Penal laws and those 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.
o Doctrine in criminal law known as the theory of territoriality (any offense
committed within our territory offends the state. Any person, whether citizen
or alien, can be punished for committing a crime here.
 o Generality means even aliens, male or female come under our territorial
jurisdiction.
o Exemptions
o The principles of public international law (diplomatic immunities)
o The presence of treaty stipulations

ARTICLE 15. Laws relating to family rights and duties or the status, condition and
legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though
living abroad.
o Status – in civil law includes personal qualities and relations, more or less
permanent in nature, and not ordinarily terminable at his own will, such as his
being married or not, or his being legitimate or illegitimate. The sum total of
person’s rights, duties, and capacities.
o Article 15 refers to family rights and duties, status, condition, legal capacity. It
stresses the principle of nationality instead of domicile
o Does Article 15 apply to Filipino merely? Filipinos are government by
Philippine laws; foreigners by their own national law
o Yes, insofar as Philippine laws are concerned.
o No, in the sense that nationals of other countries are also considered
by us as being governed in matters of status by their own national law
o Capacity to enter into ordinary contract is governed by the national law of the
person and not by the law of the place where the contract was entered into
(lex loci celebrationis)

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, 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 successions is
under consideration, whatever may be the nature of the property and regardless of
the country wherein said property may be found.

 Conflicts Rules on Property (Lex Rei Sitae) – property, whether real or

personal, is as a rule governed by the lex rei sitae (law of the place where the
property is situated).