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December 1, 1888

CODE OF COMMERCE [*]

BOOK I
Merchants and Commerce in General
TITLE I
Merchants and Commercial Transactions
ARTICLE 1. The following are merchants for the purposes of this Code:

1. Those who, having legal capacity to trade, customarily devote themselves thereto. cdasia

2. Commercial or industrial associations which are formed in accordance with this

Code.

ARTICLE 2. Commercial transactions, be they performed by merchants or not, whether they

are specified in this Code or not, shall be governed by the provisions contained in the same; in the
absence of such provisions, by the commercial customs generally observed in each place; and in the
absence of both, by those of the common law. LET05cd

Commercial transactions shall be considered those enumerated in this Code and any others of a
similar character. cd05LET

ARTICLE 3. The legal presumption of a customary engagement in commerce exists from the
time the person who desires to trade gives notice through circulars, newspapers, handbills, posters
exhibited to the public, or in any other manner whatsoever, of an establishment, the purpose of which is
to conduct any commercial transaction.

ARTICLE 4. Persons possessing the following conditions shall have legal capacity to
customarily engage in commerce:

1. Those who have reached the age of twenty-one years.

2. Those who are not subject to the authority of a father or mother nor to marital
authority.

3. Those who have the free disposition of their property.

ARTICLE 5. Persons under twenty-one years of age and incapacitated persons may
continue, through their guardians, the commerce in which their parents or persons from whom the right
is derived may have been engaged. If the guardians do not have legal capacity to trade, or have some
incompatibility, they shall be under the obligation to appoint one or more factors who possess the legal
qualifications, and who shall take their places in the business.

ARTICLE 6. A married woman, over twenty-one years of age, may engage in commerce with
the authority of her husband, contained in a public instrument which shall be recorded in the commercial
registry.

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ARTICLE 7. A married woman shall also be presumed to be authorized to engage in

commerce, if she does so with the knowledge of her husband.

ARTICLE 8. The husband may freely revoke the permission expressly or impliedly granted
the wife to trade, stating the revocation in a public instrument, which shall also be recorded in the
mercantile registry, besides being published in the official newspaper of the town, should there be any, or
otherwise in that of the province, and announcing it to her correspondents by means of circulars.

This revocation can in no case prejudice rights acquired before its publication in the official
newspaper. aisadc

ARTICLE 9. A woman who at the time of contracting marriage is engaged in commerce shall
require the permission of her husband to continue the same.

This permission shall be considered as granted as long as the husband does not make known, in
the manner prescribed in the foregoing article, the discontinuance of his wife's commercial activity.

ARTICLE 10. If the woman should be engaged in commerce in the cases mentioned in
Articles 6, 7, and 9 of this Code, her dowry and paraphernal property and all the properties and rights
that both spouses may possess in common or in the conjugal partnership, shall be liable for the results
of her commercial transactions, the wife being able to alienate and mortgage her own private property as
well as that owned in common.

The husband's private property may also be alienated or mortgaged by the wife, should the
authority granted by the former be or have been extended to that effect.

ARTICLE 11. A married woman, who is over twenty-one years of age, may also engage in
commerce in any of the following cases:

1. If she is separated from her husband by reason of a final decree of divorce.

2. If her husband is subject to guardianship.

3. If her husband is absent, his residence unknown, and his return not expected.

4. If her husband is serving a sentence of civil interdiction.

ARTICLE 12. In the cases referred to in the preceding article only the private property of the
wife and that owned in common or of the conjugal partnership which has been acquired through
commercial transactions, shall be liable for the results thereof, the wife being able to convey or mortgage
either.

After the absence of the husband has been legally declared, the wife shall moreover have the
rights granted her in such case by the common law.

ARTICLE 13. The following can not engage in commerce nor exercise any direct
administrative or economic representation in commercial or industrial companies:

1. Persons sentenced to civil interdiction, until they have served their sentence or have
been amnestied or pardoned.

2. Persons who have been declared bankrupts, until they have obtained their
discharge, or have been authorized, by virtue of an agreement accepted at a general
meeting of creditors and approved by the judicial authority, to continue at the head of

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their establishments, the discharge being considered in such cases as limited to the
provisions of the agreement.

3. Those who on account of laws or special provisions can not trade.

ARTICLE 14. The following can not engage in the commercial profession, either in person or
by proxy, nor can they hold any direct administrative or economic position in commercial or industrial
associations within the limits of the districts, provinces, or towns in which they discharge their duties:

1. Associate justices, judges, and officials of the department of public prosecution

(ministerio fiscal) in active service.

This provision shall not be applicable to mayors (alcaldes), municipal judges, and municipal
prosecuting attorneys, nor to those who by chance are discharging judicial or prosecuting functions.

2. Administrative, economic, or military chiefs of districts, provinces, or garrisons.

3. Employees engaged in the collection and administration of public funds of the State
appointed by the Government.

Persons who administer and collect temporarily or their representatives are excepted.

4. Money and commercial brokers of any class whatsoever.

5. Those who by virtue of laws or special provisions can not trade in certain territory.

ARTICLE 15. Foreigners and companies created in a foreign country may engage in
commerce in the Philippine Islands, subject to the laws of their country, in so far as their capacity to
contract is concerned; and in all that refers to the creation of their establishments within the Philippine
territory, their commercial transactions, and the jurisdiction of the courts of this country, the provisions of
this Code govern.

The provisions contained in this article shall be construed without prejudice to what may, in
particular cases, be established by treaties and conventions with other powers. cdtai

TITLE II
Commercial Registries

ARTICLE 16. A mercantile registry shall be opened in all the capitals of provinces, composed
of two independent books, in which there shall be recorded:

1. Private merchants.

2. Associations.

In the coast provinces, and in those of the interior where it is considered advisable on account of
the existence of a navigation service, the registry shall contain a third book in which to record vessels.

ARTICLE 17. Registration in the mercantile registry shall be optional for private merchants
and compulsory for associations established in accordance with this Code or with special laws, and for
vessels.

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ARTICLE 18. A merchant who is not registered can not request the registration of any
document in the mercantile registry nor take advantage of its legal effects.

ARTICLE 19. The registrar shall keep the books necessary for the records, stamped and
folioed and with a memorandum on the page signed by the justice of the peace, stating the number of
pages each book contains. 2005cdasia

Where there are several justices of the peace, any one of them may sign the memorandum.

ARTICLE 20. The registrar shall enter in chronological order in the registry and general
index, all the merchants and associations which have their names registered, giving each sheet the
proper correlative number.

ARTICLE 21. On the record sheet of each merchant or association there shall be entered:

1. The name, firm name, or title. cd

2. The kind of commerce or transactions engaged in.

3. The date on which business is to begin or was begun.

4. The domicile, with a statement of the branches which may have been established, without
prejudice to recording the branches in the registry of the province in which they are domiciled.

5. The articles constituting a commercial association, whatever may be its object or class, as
well as instruments modifying, rescinding, or dissolving such associations.

6. The general powers of attorney and the revocation of the same, should there be any,
given to managing partners, factors, employees, and any other agents.

7. The authorization of the husband for his wife to engage in commerce, and the legal or
judicial authority of the wife to administer her property on account of the absence or incapacity of the
husband.
8. The revocation of the permission granted the wife to engage in commerce.

9. Dowry instruments, marriage agreements, and the deeds which prove the ownership of
the paraphernal property of the wives of merchants.

10. The issue of shares, certificates, and obligations of railroads and of all kinds of
associations, be they of public works, credit, or others, stating the series and number of the certificates
of each issue, their interest, revenue, redemption, and premium, should they have either, the total
amount of the issue, and the property, works, rights, or mortgages, should there be any, by which their
payment is secured.

There shall be recorded, also in accordance with the provisions of the foregoing paragraph, the
issues made by private parties.

11. The issues of bank notes, stating the date, class, series, quantity, and value of each
issue.

12. The certificates of industrial property, patents, and trademarks, in the form and manner
established by law.
Foreign associations which desire to establish themselves or create branches in Spain [*] shall
present and have recorded in the registry, besides their by-laws and the documents prescribed for the
Spanish [*] ones, the certificate issued by the Spanish [*] consul stating that such companies have been
established and authorized according to the laws of the respective country.
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ARTICLE 22. In the registry of vessels there shall be stated:

1. The name of the vessel, kind of equipment, system or power of the engines, if it is a
steamer, stating whether they are nominal or indicated horsepower; place of
construction of the hull and engines; year thereof; material of the hull, stating
whether it is of wood, iron, steel, or mixed; principal dimensions of length, breadth of
beam, and depth of hold; the gross and net tonnage; distinctive signal which it bears
in the International Code of Signals; finally, the names and domiciles of the owners
or part owners of the same.

2. The changes in the ownership of vessels, in their name, or in any of the other
conditions enumerated in the foregoing paragraph.

3. The imposition, modification or cancellation of liens of any class whatsoever which

encumber vessels.

ARTICLE 23. The record shall be made, as a general rule, by virtue of notarial copies of the
instrument presented by the person interested. cdt

The record of notes, obligations, or instruments payable to order and to bearer, which do not
include mortgages of real estate, shall be entered by virtue of the certificate of the instrument in which
there appears the agreement of the person or persons who make the issue and the conditions,
requisites, and guaranties of the same. 2005letcd

When these guaranties consist of the mortgage of real estate, the proper instrument shall be
presented for entry in the mercantile registry, after having been recorded in the registry of property.
ARTICLE 24. Articles of associations not recorded shall be binding between the members
who execute the same; but they shall not prejudice third persons, who, however, may make use thereof
in so far as advantageous.

ARTICLE 25. There shall also be recorded in the registry all resolutions or acts which affect
the increase or decrease in the capital of mercantile associations, whatever may be their denomination,
and those which modify or alter the conditions of the recorded instruments.
The omission of this requisite shall produce the effects mentioned in the foregoing article.

ARTICLE 26. Recorded instruments shall have legal effect to the detriment of third persons
only from the date of their record, and they can not be invalidated by any previous or subsequent
unrecorded instruments.

ARTICLE 27. Dowry property and paraphernal property of the wife of a merchant, not
recorded in the commercial registry, shall not have any right of preference over other credits.

Real estate and real rights in the said property recorded in favor of the wife prior to the origin of
the concurrent credits are excepted.
ARTICLE 28. If a merchant should omit to enter in the registry the dowry property or
paraphernal property of his wife, the latter may do so, or it may be done in her name by her parents,
brothers, or uncles by consanguinity, as well as by those who are or have been the guardian or curator
of the wife, or who constitute or have constituted the dowry.

ARTICLE 29. Unrecorded powers of attorney shall be effective between the principal and
agent; but they can not be made use of to the prejudice of a third person, who, however, may base his
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claim on the same in so far as may be favorable to him.

ARTICLE 30. The mercantile registry shall be public. The registrar shall give, to whomsoever
requests it, any data with reference to what appears in the record sheet of each merchant, association,
or [vessel]. He shall also issue true copies of the entire or of a part of the sheet mentioned to any person
who requests it in writing. LPEcd2005

ARTICLE 31. The commercial registrar shall have under his charge, where there is an
exchange, copies of the daily quotations of the properties negotiated and the exchanges fixed therein.

The copies shall serve as original instruments in all cases of investigation and verification of
exchanges and quotations on determined dates.

ARTICLE 32. The office of commercial registrar shall be filled by the government after a
competitive examination.

TITLE III
Books and Bookkeeping of Commerce

ARTICLE 33. Merchants shall necessarily keep:

1. A book of inventories and balances.

2. A daybook.

3. A ledger.

4. A copying book for letters and telegrams.

5. The other books required by special laws.

Associations and companies shall also keep a book or books of minutes, in which there shall be
entered all the resolutions which refer to the progress and business transactions adopted at the general
meetings and at those of boards of directors. cdta

ARTICLE 34. They may furthermore keep other books that they consider advisable,
according to the system of bookkeeping adopted. iatdc2005

Such books shall not be subjected to the provisions of article 36; but any books which may be
considered proper may be legalized.

ARTICLE 35. Merchants may keep their books in person or have them kept by a person
whom they authorize for the purpose.

If the merchant does not personally keep his books, it shall be presumed that authority has been
granted the person who does keep them, unless there is proof to the contrary. 2005cda

ARTICLE 36. Merchants shall present the books referred to in Article 33 bound, ruled, and
folioed, to the justice of the peace of the municipality where they have their commercial establishments,
in order that he may put on the first page of each one a signed memorandum of the number of pages
contained in the book.

The seal of the justice of the peace which authenticates them shall, moreover, be stamped on all
the sheets of each book.

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ARTICLE 37. The book of inventories and balances shall begin with the inventory which
must be made by the merchant at the time of commencing business, and shall contain:

1. An exact statement of the money, securities, credits, notes payable, real or personal
property, merchandise and goods of all kinds appraised at their true value, and
which constitute his assets.

2. A true statement of the debts and all kinds of pending obligations, should there be
any, and which form his liabilities.

3. He shall fix, in such a case, the exact difference between his assets and liabilities,
which will be the capital with which to begin business.

The merchant shall, moreover, make annually and enter in the same book the general balances
of his business, with the details mentioned in this article, and in accordance with the entries in the
daybook, without reservation or omission whatsoever, signed by him and under his responsibility.

ARTICLE 38. The first entry in the daybook shall consist of the result of the inventory
mentioned in the foregoing article, divided into one or several consecutive accounts, according to the
system of bookkeeping adopted.

There shall thereafter follow, day by day, all their transactions, each entry stating the credit and
debit of the respective accounts. aisadc

When the transactions are numerous, no matter of what importance they may be, or when they
have taken place outside of the domicile, those referring to each account which have taken place on one
day may be included in the same entry, but observing in the statement of the same, when they are
detailed, the same order in which they occurred.

There shall be entered in the same manner, on the date on which they are taken from deposit,
the amounts which the merchant uses for his domestic expenses, which shall be placed in a special
account to be opened in the ledger for this purpose.

ARTICLE 39. The accounts referring to each object or person in particular shall, moreover,
be opened with a credit and debit in the ledger, and the entries referring to these accounts in the
daybook shall be transferred to the former in strict order of dates.

ARTICLE 40. In the book of minutes which shall be kept by each association, there shall be
entered verbatim all resolutions adopted at its meetings or at those of its managers, stating the date of
each, the members present at the same, the votes cast, and anything else which will aid in arriving at an
exact knowledge of what has been decided, being authenticated with the signatures of the managers,
directors, or administrators who are in charge of the management of the association or those who are
designated by the by-laws or other regulations which govern the said association.

ARTICLE 41. All letters which a merchant may write regarding his business and the
telegrams he may send shall be transferred to the copying book, either by hand or through any
mechanical means, completely and consecutively, by order of dates, including the subscribing clause
and signature.

ARTICLE 42. Merchants shall carefully keep in bundles and in proper order the letters and
telegraphic messages which they may receive relating to their transactions.

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ARTICLE 43. Merchants, besides complying with and fulfilling the conditions and formalities
prescribed in this title, must keep their books in a clear manner in order of dates, without leaving blank
spaces, interlineations, erasures, or blots, and without showing traces of having been altered by
substituting or tearing out folios, or in any other manner whatsoever.

ARTICLE 44. Merchants shall correct at once the errors or omissions which they may incur
in making entries in their books, immediately after they notice them, clearly explaining in what they
consisted and writing the phrase as it should have appeared.

Should some time have elapsed since the error was committed or since the occurrence of the
omission, they shall make the proper entry of correction, adding at the margin of the incorrect entry a
memorandum calling attention to the correction.

ARTICLE 45. No official inquiry can be instituted by judges or courts, nor any authority, in
order to ascertain if merchants keep their books in accordance with the provisions of this Code, nor any
general investigation or examination of the bookkeeping in the offices or counting-houses of merchants.
2005cdtai

ARTICLE 46. Neither can the general communication, delivery, nor inspection of the books,
correspondence, and other documents of merchants be decreed at the instance of a party, except in
cases of liquidation, universal heirship, or bankruptcy.

ARTICLE 47. With the exception of the cases mentioned in the foregoing article, the
exhibition of the books and documents of merchants can only be decreed, at the instance of a party, or
officially, when the person requesting it has any interest or liability in the question in which the exhibition
is to take place. lpe2005cda

The inspection shall be made in the office of the merchant, in his presence, or in that of the
person he may delegate, and shall be limited exclusively to the points which relate to the matter in
question, said points being the only ones which may be verified.

ARTICLE 48. In order to graduate the weight of evidence of books of merchants, the
following rules shall be observed:

1. Books of merchants shall be evidence against themselves, [no proof to the contrary
being admitted]; but the adverse party can not accept the entries which are favorable
to him and reject those which prejudice him; but, having admitted this means of
evidence, he shall abide by the result which they may show in their entirety, taking
into equal consideration all the entries relating to the matter in litigation.

2. If the entries of the books kept by two merchants should not conform, and those of
one of them have been kept with all the formalities mentioned in this title, and those
of the other contain any defects or lack the requisites prescribed by this Code, the
entries of the books correctly kept shall be admitted against those of the defective
ones, unless the contrary is demonstrated by means of other proofs legally
admissible. cdt

3. If one of the merchants should not present his books or should state that he does not
possess any, those of his adversary, kept with all the legal formalities, shall be
evidence against him, unless it is proven that the lack of said books is caused by
force majeure, and always reserving the evidence against the entries exhibited, by
the other means legally admissible in suits.
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4. If the books of the merchants contain all the legal requisites and are conflicting or
contradictory to each other, the judge or court shall render judgment in accordance
with other proofs adduced; weighing them according to the general rules of law.

ARTICLE 49. Merchants and their heirs or successors shall preserve the books, telegrams,
and correspondence of their business in general for the entire period which it may continue in existence,
and until five years after the liquidation of all their commercial transactions and business.

Documents which specially relate to certain acts or transactions may be rendered useless or
destroyed after the time of the limitation of the actions which could be brought by virtue thereof has
elapsed, unless some question referring to the same directly or indirectly is pending, in which case they
must be kept until the conclusion thereof.
TITLE IV

General Provisions Relating to Commercial Contracts

ARTICLE 50. Commercial contracts in all that relates to their requisites, modifications,
exceptions, interpretations, and extinction and to the capacity of the contracting parties shall be
governed, in all that is not expressly established in this Code or in special laws, by the general rules of
common law.

ARTICLE 51. Commercial contracts shall be valid and create an obligation and cause of
action in suits, whatever may be the form or in whatever language they may be executed, the class to
which they correspond, and the amount involved, provided their existence is proved by some of the
means established by the civil law. However, the testimony of witnesses shall not in itself be sufficient to
prove the existence of a contract wherein the amount involved exceeds 1,500 pesetas unless supported
by other evidence.
Telegraphic correspondence shall only be the basis of an obligation between contracting parties
who have previously admitted this medium in a written contract, and provided the telegrams fulfill the
conventional conditions or conventional signs which may have been previously fixed and agreed to by
the contracting parties.

ARTICLE 52. From the provisions of the foregoing article the following are excepted:

1. Contracts which, in accordance with this Code or special laws, must be reduced to
writing or for which certain methods or formalities are necessary to their validity. cdta

2. Contracts executed in a foreign country in which the law requires certain

instruments, methods or formalities for their validity, although not required by the
Spanish law.

In either case contracts which do not fulfill the requisites respectively demanded can not serve as
the basis for any obligation or cause of action in suits.

ARTICLE 53. Unlawful agreements can not serve as the basis for any obligation or cause of
action, even where they involve commercial transactions.

ARTICLE 54. Contracts entered into through correspondence shall be perfected from the
time an answer is made accepting the proposition or the conditions by which the latter may be modified.

ARTICLE 55. Contracts in which an agent or broker mediates shall be perfected when the
contracting parties shall have agreed to his offer.
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ARTICLE 56. In a commercial contract containing an indemnification clause against the

person who fails to comply therewith, the party aggrieved may take legal steps to demand the fulfillment
of the contract or the indemnity stipulated; but in resorting to either of these two actions the other one
shall be annulled unless there is an agreement to the contrary. iatdclet

ARTICLE 57. Commercial contracts shall be executed and complied with in good faith
according to the terms in which they were made and drafted, without evading the honest, proper, and
usual meaning of written or spoken words with arbitrary interpretations, nor limiting the effects which are
naturally derived from the manner in which the contractors may have explained their wishes and
contracted their obligations.

ARTICLE 58. Should any difference appear between the copies of a contract presented by
the contracting parties and an agent or broker having mediated in the execution thereof, what appears in
the books of the latter shall govern, provided they are kept in accordance with law.

ARTICLE 59. Should any doubts arise which can not be decided in accordance with the
provisions of Article 2 of this Code, the question shall be decided in favor of the debtor.

ARTICLE 60. In all computations of days, months, and years, the following shall be
understood. A day shall comprise twenty-four hours; the months according to the manner they are
designated in the Gregorian calendar, and a year shall embrace three hundred and sixty-five days.

Bills of exchange, promissory notes, and loans are excepted, with regard to which the special
provisions established by this Code shall be observed.

ARTICLE 61. Days of grace, courtesy, and others, which under any designation whatsoever
defer the fulfillment of commercial obligations, shall not be recognized, but only those which the parties
may have previously fixed in the contract, or which are founded on a definite provision of law.

ARTICLE 62. Obligations which do not have a period previously fixed by the parties, or by
the provisions of this Code, shall be demandable ten days after having been contracted, if they can only
be the basis for an ordinary action, and on the next day if execution lies. cd

ARTICLE 63. The effects of default in the compliance with commercial obligations shall
begin:

1. In contracts in which a day is fixed for their compliance by the will of the parties or by
law, on the day following the one they fall due.

2. In contracts in which no such day is fixed, from the day on which the creditor legally
makes demand upon the debtor or notifies him of the protest of loss and damage
made against him before a justice, notary, or other public official authorized to admit
the same.

TITLE V

Places and Buildings for Commercial Transactions

SECTION I
Commercial Exchanges

ARTICLE 64. Legally authorized public establishments in which merchants and licensed
intermediary agents usually assemble to agree upon or carry out the commercial transactions mentioned
in this section shall be called commercial exchanges. cdasia2005

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ARTICLE 65. The government may establish or authorize the creation of commercial
exchanges wherever it may deem it convenient. LPrE05

Associations established in accordance with this Code may also create them, provided the power
to do so is one of the objects thereof.

Notwithstanding this, in order that the quotations of transactions effected and published in this
kind of exchanges may have an official character, it shall be necessary for the Government to authorize
said transactions before becoming the subject of the public traffic, shown by the quotation. iatdc2005

The Government may grant such authorization, after procuring the information which it may
consider necessary regarding its public convenience.

ARTICLE 66. Existing commercial exchanges, as well as those newly created, shall be
governed by the provisions of this Code.

ARTICLE 67. The following shall be the subject of transactions on exchange:

1. Public bonds and securities.

2. Industrial and commercial securities issued by private parties or associations or

enterprises legally constituted.

3. Bills of exchange, drafts, promissory notes, and any other commercial papers.

4. The sale of precious metals, in coin or bullion.

5. Merchandise of all kinds and warehouse receipts.

6. The insurance of commercial effects against land or marine risks.

7. Transportation and freightage, bills of lading, and way bills.

8. Any other transactions similar to those mentioned in the foregoing subdivisions,

provided they are lawful.

The bonds and securities referred to in subdivisions 1 and 2 of this article shall only be included
in the official quotations when their negotiation is authorized, in accordance with Article 65, in the
exchanges of private constitution, or which are declared negotiable on the exchanges officially
established. Pmsaow

ARTICLE 68. In order to include them in the official quotations treated of in the foregoing
article, under the designation of public securities shall be understood:

1. Those which by means of an issue represent credits against the State, provinces, or
municipalities, and are legally recognized as negotiable on exchange.

2. Those issued by foreign nations, if their negotiation has been duly authorized by the
government after a report of the board of directors of the association of money
brokers.

ARTICLE 69. There may also be included in the official quotations, as a matter of traffic on
exchange, instruments of credit payable to bearer issued by national establishments, companies, or
enterprises in accordance with law and the by-laws of the same, provided that the resolution authorizing

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their issue, with all the other requisites enumerated in Article 21, are duly recorded in the commercial
registry, as well as in those of property, when on account of their nature, this should be done, and
provided that these details have been previously reported to the board of directors of the association of
money brokers.

ARTICLE 70. In order to include in the official quotations as a matter of traffic on exchange,
credit instruments payable to bearer of foreign enterprises established in accordance with the laws of the
State in which said enterprises are situated, the previous authorization of the board of directors of the
association of money brokers shall be necessary, after it has been proved that the issue has been made
in accordance with law and the by-laws of the company which issues the same, and that all the
requisites prescribed in the said provisions have been complied with, and provided there exist no
reasons of public interest which may make them objectionable.

ARTICLE 71. Instruments or securities issued by private parties can not be included in the
official quotations without the authority of the board of directors of the association of money brokers,
which shall always be granted when they are mortgage bonds or are sufficiently guaranteed in their
judgment and under their liability.

ARTICLE 72. The following can not be included in the official quotations:

1. Instruments or securities issued by companies or copartnerships not recorded in the

commercial registry.

2. Instruments or securities issued by associations which, although recorded in the

commercial registry, have not made the issue in accordance with this Code or with
special laws.

ARTICLE 73. The regulations shall fix the days and hours on which the meetings of the
exchanges established by the Government or by private parties are to be held, after they have acquired
an official character, and all that relates to their interior government and police, which shall in each one
of them be in charge of the board of directors of the association of money brokers. The Government
shall fix the schedule of the fees of the brokers.

SECTION II
Transactions on Exchange

ARTICLE 74. Every person, be he a merchant or not, may make contracts relating to public
instruments, or industrial or commercial securities, without the intervention of a licensed money broker;
but said contracts shall have no more value than arises from their form and which is granted them by the
common law.

ARTICLE 75. Transactions which take place on exchange shall be complied with under the
conditions and in the manner and form agreed upon by the contracting parties, and can be either for
cash or on time, definite or optional, with or without brokerage, stating at the time of announcing the
same the conditions which may have been stipulated in each transaction.

All these transactions may be binding and the basis of actions before courts.
ARTICLE 76. Transactions for cash made on exchange must be consummated on the same
day of their execution, or at the utmost, in the time intervening until the next meeting of the exchange.

The seller shall be under the obligation to deliver, without further delay, the instruments or
securities sold and the purchaser to receive them, satisfying their price immediately.
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Transactions on time and conditional ones shall be consummated in the same manner at the time
agreed upon.
ARTICLE 77. If the transactions take place through a licensed money broker, the latter being
silent regarding the name of the principal, or between agents with the same conditions, and the licensed
agent, vendor, or purchaser delays the fulfilment of the agreement, the person prejudiced by the delay
may choose in the exchange itself between abandoning the contract, denouncing it to the board of
directors, or demanding the compliance of the same.

In the latter case it shall be consummated through one of the members of the board of directors
by purchasing or selling the public instruments agreed upon for account and risk of the tardy agent,
without prejudice to the suit of the latter against the principal.

The board of directors shall order the realization of that part of the bond of the tardy agent
necessary to immediately satisfy these differences. LrnImm

In transactions involving industrial and commercial instruments, metals, or merchandise, the

person who delays or refuses to consummate a contract shall be compelled to comply therewith by
means of the actions which may be proper according to the prescriptions of this Code.

ARTICLE 78. Whenever any transaction which can be quoted has been agreed upon, the
money broker who may have taken part therein shall make a signed memorandum thereof, delivering it
immediately to the announcer, who, after reading it aloud, shall transmit it to the board of directors.

ARTICLE 79. The transactions which take place through a licensed broker, involving bonds
or public instrument, shall be announced aloud immediately upon being agreed upon, without prejudice
to transmitting the proper memorandum to the board of directors.

Other contracts shall be made known in the quotation bulletin, stating the maximum and minimum
price of the purchases of merchandise, transportation and freightage, the rate of discount, and that of the
exchanges for drafts and loans.

ARTICLE 80. The boards of directors shall meet after the exchange hours, and in view of the
negotiations of public instruments which result from the memoranda delivered by the licensed brokers,
and with the notice of sales and other operations in which the same took part, it shall prepare the lists of
quotations, transmitting a certified copy thereof to the commercial registry.
SECTION III
Other Public Places for Transactions — Fairs, Markets, and Shops

ARTICLE 81. The Government, as well as commercial associations which fulfill the
conditions mentioned in article 65 of this Code, may establish exchanges or commercial agencies.

ARTICLE 82. The competent authority shall announce the place and time of holding fairs and
the police regulations which are to be observed in the same. LET05cd

ARTICLE 83. Sale and resale contracts executed at fairs may be for cash or on time; the
former must be complied with on the same day of their execution, or, at the utmost, within the following
twenty-four hours.

After this time has elapsed without either of the contracting parties having demanded its
compliance, they shall be considered null, and the deposits or earnest-money which may have been
delivered shall be forfeited to the person who received the same.

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ARTICLE 84. Questions which may arise at fairs regarding contracts executed at the same
shall be decided in an oral trial by the municipal judge of the town in which the fair is held, in accordance
with the prescriptions of this Code, provided the value of the article in litigation does not exceed 1,500
pesetas.

Should there be more than one municipal judge, the one selected by the plaintiff shall be the one
of complete jurisdiction.

ARTICLE 85. The purchase of merchandise from warehouses or shops open to the public
shall cause the forfeiture of the right in favor of the purchaser with regard to the merchandise acquired,
reserving in a proper case the rights of the owner of the merchandise sold to institute the civil or criminal
actions which may be proper against the person who sold the same without having a right to do so.

For the purposes of this forfeiture, as warehouses or shops open to the public shall be
considered:

1. Those which may be established by recorded merchants.

2. Those established by merchants who are not recorded, provided the warehouses or
shops remain open to the public for a period of eight consecutive days, or that they
have been announced by means of signs, cards, or posters, in the places
themselves, or through circulars distributed to the public or inserted in the
newspapers of the locality.

ARTICLE 86. The money in which the payment of merchandise bought for cash is effected,
in shops or public establishments, shall not be recoverable.

ARTICLE 87. Purchases and sales which take place in establishments shall always be
presumed as made for cash unless there is proof to the contrary.

TITLE VI
Commercial Agents and Their Respective Obligations
SECTION I
General Provisions Common to Commercial Agents

ARTICLE 88. The following shall be subject to the commercial laws as commercial agents:

1. Money and stock brokers.

2. Commercial brokers.

3. Ship-broking interpreters.

ARTICLE 89. The services of stock brokers or agents no matter what may be their class,
may be rendered by Spaniards [*] and foreigners; but licensed agents and brokers only may issue
certifications.

The means of proving the existence and conditions of instruments or contracts in which agents
who are not licensed take part shall be those established by the commercial or common law to justify
obligations.

ARTICLE 90. In every commercial center there may be established an association of stock
brokers, another of commercial brokers, and in maritime centers one of ship-broking interpreters.
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ARTICLE 91. The associations treated of in the foregoing article shall be composed of the
individuals who may have obtained the proper certificate of possessing the qualifications required by this
Code.

ARTICLE 92. At the head of each association there shall be a board of directors elected by
the members.

ARTICLE 93. The licensed agents shall have the character of notaries in all that refers to the
negotiation of public instruments, industrial and commercial securities, merchandise, and the other
commercial acts included in their office in the respective center.

They shall keep a registry book in accordance with the prescriptions of Article 36, entering therein
in proper order, separately and daily, all the transactions in which they may have taken part, being
moreover permitted to keep other books with the same formalities.

The books and policies of licensed agents shall be admitted as evidence in suits.

ARTICLE 94. In order to become a member of any of the associations referred to in Article
90, it shall be necessary:

1. To be a Spaniard or a naturalized foreigner.

2. To have capacity to trade in accordance with this Code.

3. Not to be suffering any correctional or punitive penalty.

4. To prove good moral conduct and well known honesty by means of a judicial report
of three recorded merchants.

5. To constitute in the depository, or in the Spanish Philippine Bank (Banco Español

Filipino), the bond fixed by the Government.

6. To obtain from the Governor-General, after a report from the board of directors, the
provisional certificate, which shall be presented in the colonial department for the
royal confirmation, which must be issued free of charge within the period of six
months from the date on which it was executed.

ARTICLE 95. It shall be the obligation of licensed agents:

1. To assure themselves of the identity and legal capacity to trade of the persons in
whose affairs they act, and, if proper, of the legitimacy of the signatures of the
contracting parties. cd05LET

When the latter do not have the free disposition of their property, agents can not act without
previously obtaining the authorization prescribed by law.

2. To submit the transactions with exactness, precision, and clearness, abstaining from
making suppositions which might lead the contracting parties into error.

3. To preserve secrecy in all that refers to the business they may transact and not
reveal the names of the persons who in trust the same to them, unless it is otherwise
required by law, or by the character of the transactions, or if the persons interested
consent to their names being made public.

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4. To issue at the expense of the persons interested, who may request them,
certificates of the respective entries of their contracts. 2005cdasia

ARTICLE 96. Licensed agents can not:

1. Trade for their own account.

2. Constitute themselves underwriters of commercial risks.

3. Negotiate securities or merchandise for the account of individuals or associations

which have suspended payments, or which have been declared in bankruptcy or
insolvent, unless they have obtained their discharge.

4. Acquire for themselves the effects the negotiation of which was intrusted to them,
except in case the agent is to answer for noncompliance of the purchaser to the
vendor.

5. Issue certifications which do not directly refer to facts which appear in the entries on
their books.

6. Discharge the duties of cashiers, bookkeepers, or employees of any merchant or

commercial establishment.

ARTICLE 97. The persons violating the provisions of the preceding article shall be removed
from their office by the Government, after hearing the board of directors and the interested party, who
may appeal from this decision through administrative litigation (via contenciosa administrativa).

They shall, moreover, be civilly liable for the damage caused by any neglect of the obligations of
their office.

ARTICLE 98. The bonds of stock brokers, commercial brokers, and ship-broking interpreters
shall be specially liable for the results of the business of their office, the persons prejudiced having a
right of preferred real action against the same without prejudice to any others which may be proper
according to law.

This bond can not be restored, notwithstanding that the agent ceases in the discharge of his
office, until the period fixed in Article 946 has elapsed, unless a claim has been filed within the same
period.

The bond shall only be subject to liabilities not connected with the office when those of the latter
are first fully secured.

If the bond is divided by the liabilities to which it is subject, or its real value is diminished for any
reason whatsoever, it must be replaced by the agent within the period of twenty days.

ARTICLE 99. In case of disability, incapacity, or suspension from office of stock brokers,
commercial brokers, or ship-broking interpreters the books which they are to keep in accordance with
this Code shall be deposited in the commercial registry.

SECTION II
Licensed Money and Stock Brokers

ARTICLE 100. Money and stock brokers shall be authorized to:

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1. Take part privately in negotiations and transfers of all kinds of public instruments or
securities which can be quoted, defined in Article 68.

2. Take part, in concurrence with commercial agents, in all other exchange transactions
and contracts, subject to the liabilities appertaining to these transactions.

ARTICLE 101. Stock agents who take part in purchase or sale contracts or in other
transactions for cash or on time shall be liable to the purchaser for the delivery of the instruments or
securities involved in said transactions and to the vendor for the payment of the price or indemnity
agreed upon.

ARTICLE 102. Stock brokers shall enter in their books, in correlative numerical order and by
dates, all the transactions in which they take part.

ARTICLE 103. Stock brokers shall deliver to each other a signed memorandum of every
transaction agreed upon, on the same day on which it took place. Another memorandum, signed in the
same manner, shall be delivered to their constituents, and the latter shall deliver one to the agents,
stating their acquiescence with the terms and conditions of the transaction.

The memoranda or policies which agents deliver to their constituents, and those which they
mutually issue, shall be evidence against the agent who subscribes them in all cases of claims which
may arise by virtue thereof.

In order to determine the amount which can be claimed, the board of directors shall issue a
certificate stating the difference in cash which appears against the constituents in view of the
memoranda of the transaction.
The acquiescence of the constituents, after their signature has been acknowledged in a suit, shall
include an execution, provided the certificate of the board of directors mentioned in the preceding
paragraph is presented.

ARTICLE 104. Stock agents, besides the obligations common to all agents enumerated in
Articles 95, 96, 97, and 98, shall be civilly liable for the industrial or commercial instruments or securities
which they may sell after the denunciation of said securities as illegitimate has been made public by the
board of directors.

ARTICLE 105. The president, or the person acting in his stead, and two members at least of
the board of directors shall always be present at the meeting of the exchange in order to decide what
may be proper in the cases which may arise.

The board of directors shall fix the rate of the monthly liquidations in closing the exchange on the
last day of each month, taking as a basis the average of the quotations of the same day.

The same board shall be in charge of receiving the partial liquidations and preparing the general
one of the month.

SECTION III
Licensed Commercial Brokers

ARTICLE 106. Besides the obligations common to all commercial agents enumerated in
Article 95, licensed commercial brokers shall be under the obligation:

1. To answer legally for the authenticity of the signature of the last conveyer in
negotiations of bills of exchange and other negotiable paper. LPEcd2005

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2. To take part and certify, in contracts of purchase and sale, to the delivery of the
paper and to its payment, if the persons interested demand it.

3. To collect from the conveyer and deliver to the buyer the drafts or negotiable paper
which may have been negotiated through him.

4. To collect from the buyer and deliver to the conveyer the value of the bills of
exchange or negotiable paper which is negotiated.

ARTICLE 107. Licensed brokers shall enter in their books in separate entries all the
transactions in which they may have taken part, stating the names and the domiciles of the contracting
parties and the subject and conditions of the contracts.

In sales they shall state the quality, amount, and price of the article sold, place and date of the
delivery, and the manner in which the price is to be paid.

In negotiations of bills of exchange, they shall enter the dates, places of issue and payment,
terms and due dates, names of the drawer, endorser and payer, those of the conveyer and purchaser,
and the exchange agreed upon.

In insurance there shall be stated, with reference to the policy, besides the number and date of
the same, the names of the underwriter and of the insured, object of the insurance, its value according to
the contracting parties, the premium agreed upon, and, in a proper case, the place of loading and
unloading, and a precise and exact statement of the ship or of the means of transportation.

ARTICLE 108. Within the day on which the contract is executed, the licensed brokers shall
deliver to each one of the contracting parties a signed memorandum containing all that the latter may
have agreed to.

ARTICLE 109. In cases in which, on account of the convenience of the parties, a written
contract is executed, the broker shall certify at the foot of the duplicates and shall keep the originals.

ARTICLE 110. Licensed brokers may, in concurrence with the ship-broking interpreters,
discharge the duties of the latter subjecting themselves to the prescriptions of the following section of
this title.

ARTICLE 111. The association of brokers, where there is not one of agents, shall issue on
each day of negotiation a memorandum of the current exchanges and of the prices of merchandise, for
which purpose two members of the board of directors shall be present at the meeting of the exchange, a
certified copy of said memorandum being transmitted to the commercial registry.

SECTION IV
Licensed Ship-broking Interpreters

ARTICLE 112. In order to discharge the duties of ship-broking interpreter, besides

possessing the qualifications required of agents in Article 94, it shall be necessary to prove, either by
examination or by a certificate of a public establishment, the knowledge of two modern foreign
languages.

ARTICLE 113. The obligations of ship-broking interpreters shall be:

1. To take part in charter contracts, marine insurance, and bottomry bonds, when
requested to do so.

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2. To assist captains and supercargoes of foreign vessels and serve as interpreters in

the declarations, protests, and other business which may take place in courts and
public offices.

3. To translate the documents that the said foreign captains and supercargoes are
obliged to present in the said offices, provided there arises any doubt regarding their
understanding, certifying that the translations have been well and faithfully made.

4. To represent the same in suits when they, the shipowner or consignee of the vessel,
do not appear.

ARTICLE 114. It shall furthermore be the obligation of ship-broking interpreters to keep:

1. A copying book for the translations they may make, entering the same literally.

2. A registry of the names of the captains to whom they render the services proper to
their office, stating the flag, name, class, and tonnage of the vessels and the ports of
departure and their destination.

3. A daybook of the contracts of charter in which they take part, stating in each entry
the name of the vessel, its flag, register, and tonnage; those of the captain and of the
charterer; value and destination of the cargo; money in which it is to be paid;
advances on the same, should there be any; the goods of which the cargo consists;
conditions agreed upon between the charterer and captain regarding demurrage,
and the date previously fixed on which to commence and finish loading.

ARTICLE 115. The ship-broking interpreter shall keep one copy of the contract or contracts
which may have been executed between the captain and the charterer.

BOOK II
Special Commercial Contracts
TITLE I
Commercial Associations
SECTION I
Manner of Establishing Associations and Their Kinds

ARTICLE 116. Articles of association by which two or more persons obligate themselves to
place in a common fund any property, industry, or any of these things, in order to obtain profit, shall be
commercial, no matter what its class may be, provided it has been established in accordance with the
provisions of this Code. 2005letcd

After a commercial association has been established, it shall have legal representation in all its
acts and contracts.

ARTICLE 117. Articles of mercantile association, executed with the essential requisites of
law, shall be valid and binding between the parties thereto, no matter what form, conditions, and
combinations, legal and honest, are included therein, provided they are not expressly prohibited by this
Code.

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The establishment of land, agricultural, issuing, and discount banks, of loan and mortgage loan
associations, of concessionaires of public works, manufacturing, general warehouses, of mines, of the
establishment of principals and life annuities, of insurance and other associations, the purpose of which
is any industrial or commercial enterprise shall be unrestricted.

ARTICLE 118. Contracts executed between commercial associations and any other persons
capable of binding themselves shall also be valid and binding, provided the same are legal and honest,
and that the requisites mentioned in the following article have been complied with.

ARTICLE 119. Every commercial association, before beginning its business, must state its
articles, agreements, and conditions in a public instrument, which shall be presented for record in the
mercantile registry, in accordance with the provisions of Article 17.

Additional instruments which modify or alter in any manner whatsoever the original contracts of
the association are subject to the same formalities, in accordance with the provisions of Article 25.

The members can not make private agreements, but all must appear in the articles of
association.
ARTICLE 120. The persons in charge of the management of the association who violate the
provisions of the foregoing article shall be responsible in solidum to the person not members of the
association with whom they may have transacted business in the name of the association.

ARTICLE 121. Commercial associations shall be governed by the clauses and conditions of
their articles, and in all that is not determined and prescribed therein, by the provisions of this Code.

ARTICLE 122. As a general rule, commercial associations shall be established by the

adoption of any of the following forms:

1. The regular general copartnership in which all the partners, under a collective and
commercial name, bind themselves to participate, in the proportion they may
establish, in the same rights and obligations.

2. The limited copartnership to which one or more persons contribute a specific amount
of capital to a common fund, to become liable for the business transactions of the
firm executed exclusively by others under a collective name.

3. The corporation, in which the members form the common fund by means of specific
parts or portions, represented by shares or in any other unquestionable manner,
leaving its management to removable managers or administrators, who represent
the company under an appropriate denomination according to the purpose or
undertaking for which funds are to be employed.

ARTICLE 123. Commercial associations may be, according to the character of their
operations:

Loan associations.

Banks of issue and discount.

Mortgage loan associations.

Mining associations.

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Agricultural banks.

Concessionaires of railroads, tramways, and public works.

General warehouse companies.

And of other kinds, provided their agreements are legal, and industry or commerce is their object.

ARTICLE 124. Mutual fire insurance companies, companies of tontine life combinations for
help in old age, and companies, of any other class, as well as co-operative companies of production,
loan, or consumption, shall only be considered commercial, and shall be subject to the provisions of this
Code when they are engaged in commercial transactions which are not mutual or when they are
converted into associations charging a fixed premium.

SECTION II
General Copartnerships
ARTICLE 125. The articles of general copartnership must state:

The names, surnames, and domiciles of the partners.

The firm name.

The names and surnames of the partners to whom the management of the firm and the use of its
signature is intrusted.

The capital which each partner contributes in cash, credits, or property, stating the value given
the latter or the basis on which their appraisement is to be made.

The duration of the copartnership.

The amounts which, in a proper case, are to be given to each managing partner annually for his
private expenses.

There may be also included in the articles the other legal agreements and special conditions
which the partners may wish to make.

ARTICLE 126. The general copartnership must transact business under the name of all its
members, of several of them, or of one only, it being necessary to add in the latter two cases to the
name or names given the words "and company."

This collective name shall constitute the firm name or signature, in which there shall never be
included the name of a person who is not at the time a partner in the association.

Those who not being members of the partnership, include their names in the firm name shall be
subject to joint liability, without prejudice to the penal liability which may be proper. iatdc2005

ARTICLE 127. All the members of the general copartnership, be they or be they not
managing partners of the same, are liable personally and in solidum with all their property for the results
of the transactions made in the name and for the account of the partnership, under the signature of the
latter, and by a person authorized to make use thereof.

ARTICLE 128. The partners not duly authorized to make use of the firm signature shall not
make the company liable through their acts and contracts, even though they execute them in the name
of the latter and under its signature.

The civil or criminal liability for these acts shall be incurred exclusively by the authors thereof.

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ARTICLE 129. If the management of the general copartnerships has not been limited by a
special instrument to one of its members, all of them shall have the right to take part in the direction and
management of the common business and the partners present shall come to an agreement with regard
to all contracts or obligations in which the company may be interested.

ARTICLE 130. No new obligation shall be contracted against the will of one of the managing
partners, should he have expressly stated it; but if, however, it should be contracted it shall not be
annulled for this reason, and shall have its effects without prejudice to the liability of the partner or
partners who contracted it to reimburse the firm for any loss occasioned by reason thereof.

ARTICLE 131. Should there be partners especially intrusted with the management, the other
partners can not oppose nor hinder the actions of the former nor prevent their effects. 2005cda

ARTICLE 132. When the special power to manage and to use the signature of the
copartnership has been conferred in an express condition of the articles of copartnership, the person
who obtained the same can not be deprived thereof; but should the latter make an improper use of said
power, and his management cause serious damage to the common capital, the rest of the partners may
appoint from among themselves a comanager to take part in all transactions, or they may request the
rescission of the articles before the judge or court of competent jurisdiction, who shall declare them
annulled should such damage be proven. 2005cdtai

ARTICLE 133. In general copartnerships all the partners, be they managing or not, have a
right to examine the condition of the administration and of the bookkeeping and to make the objections
which they may consider proper, in accordance with the agreements contained in the articles of
copartnership or in the general provisions of law.

ARTICLE 134. Transactions made by the partners in their own names and with their private
funds shall not be communicated to the company nor shall it be liable therefor, provided they are of a
kind that partners may legally make for their own account and risk.

ARTICLE 135. The partners can not apply the funds of the copartnership nor make use of
the firm signature for business for their own account; and should they do so, they shall lose to the benefit
of the company that part of the profit which in the transaction or transactions made in this manner may
be due them, and the articles of copartnership in so far as they are concerned may be annulled, without
prejudice to the return of the funds they may have made use of, and to indemnify the copartnership for
all losses and damages which it may have suffered.

ARTICLE 136. In general copartnerships which do not transact business in a specific branch
of commerce their members can not make transactions for their own account without the previous
consent of the copartnership, which can not refuse it without proving that it will suffer thereby manifest
and pecuniary damage.

Partners who do not comply with this provision shall contribute to the common funds the profit
they may derive from these transactions and they shall individually suffer the losses should there be any.

ARTICLE 137. If the copartnership should have determined in its articles of copartnership the
branch of commerce in which it is to engage, the partners may legally transact any commercial business
they may desire, provided it does not belong to the kind of transactions the copartnership of which they
are partners is engaged in, unless there is a special agreement to the contrary.

ARTICLE 138. An industrial partner (socio industrial) can not engage in any kind of business
transactions whatsoever, unless expressly permitted to do so by the company, and should he do so the
capitalist partners (socios capitalistas) may, at their option, remove them from the company, depriving
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them of the profits due them in the same, or they may enjoy the profits said partner may have obtained
in violation of this provision.

ARTICLE 139. In general or in limited copartnerships, no partner may remove or divert from
the common funds a larger amount than that assigned to each one for his personal expenses; should he
do so, he may be compelled to repay it as if he had not completed the portion of the capital which he
bound himself to contribute to the copartnership.

ARTICLE 140. Should there not have been stated in the articles of copartnership the portion
of the profits to be received by each partner, said profits shall be divided pro rata in accordance with the
interest each one may have in the copartnership, the industrial partners, if there are any, should be
considered in the distribution of profits as among the partners who have contributed the smallest capital.

ARTICLE 141. Losses shall be computed in the same proportion among the capitalist
partners without including the industrial partners, unless by special agreement the latter have been
constituted as participants therein.

ARTICLE 142. The copartnership must reimburse the partners of the expenses they may
incur, and indemnify them for the damages they may suffer, when caused immediately and directly by
the business which the former may intrust to them; but it shall not be bound to indemnify for the losses
the partners may incur by their own fault, in an accidental case, or on account of any other reason,
independent of the business, during the time they were transacting the same.

ARTICLE 143. No partner can transfer to another person the interest he may have in the
copartnership, nor can he substitute another person in his place for the discharge of the work under his
charge in the partnership administration, without the previous consent of the partners.

ARTICLE 144. The damage suffered by the copartnership by reason of malice, abuse of
powers, or serious negligence on the part of one of the partners, shall obligate the author thereof to
indemnify it, should the other partners request it, provided an express or virtual approval or ratification of
the act on which the claim is based can not be deduced in any manner whatsoever. lpe2005cda

SECTION III
Limited Copartnerships

ARTICLE 145. The same statements shall be included in the articles of limited partnerships
which are required for those of general copartnerships.

ARTICLE 146. Limited copartnerships must transact business under the name of all the
general members thereof, of several of them, or of one only, it being necessary to add in the latter two
cases to the name or names given, the words "and company" and in all cases the words "limited
copartnership".

ARTICLE 147. This collective name shall constitute the firm name, in which there may never
be included the names of limited partners.

Should any limited partner include his name or permit its inclusion in the firm name, he shall be
subject, with regard to persons not members of the copartnership, to the same liabilities as the
managing partners, without acquiring any more rights than those corresponding to his character of a
limited partner.

ARTICLE 148. All the general members of the copartnership, be they or be they not
managing partners of the limited copartnership, shall be liable personally and in solidum for the results of

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the transactions of the latter in the same manner and to the same extent as in general copartnerships,
as set forth in Article 127.

They shall furthermore have the same rights and obligations which are prescribed in the
foregoing sections for partners in general copartnerships.

The liability of limited partners for the obligations and losses of the copartnership shall be limited
to the funds which they contributed or bound themselves to contribute to the limited copartnership, with
the exception of the case mentioned in Article 147.

Limited partners can not take any part whatsoever in the management of the interests of the
copartnership, not even in the capacity of special agents of the managing partners.

ARTICLE 149. The provisions of Article 144 shall be applicable to partners in limited
copartnerships.

ARTICLE 150. Limited partners can not examine the condition and situation of the
management of the partnership except at the times and under the penalties prescribed in the articles of
copartnership or in additional ones.

Should the articles not contain any provision of this character the balance of the copartnership
shall necessarily be communicated to the limited copartners at the end of the year, exhibiting for a period
which can not be less than fifteen days the exact data and documents proving said balance and
permitting the transactions to be understood.

SECTION IV
Corporations

ARTICLE 151. The articles of incorporation must include:

The names, surnames, and domiciles of the incorporators.

The name of the corporation.

The designation of the person or persons who are to direct the affairs of the same and the
manner of filling vacancies.

The corporation capital, stating the value at which property, not cash, contributed has been
appraised, or the basis on which the appraisement is to be made.

The number of shares into which the corporation capital is divided and represented.

The period or periods within which the portion of the capital not subscribed at the time of
incorporation is to be contributed, otherwise stating the person or persons authorized to determine the
time and manner in which the assessments are to be made.

The time the corporation is to continue in existence.

The transactions the capital is to be employed in.

The periods and manner of calling and holding general ordinary meetings of members, and the
cases and manner of calling and holding extraordinary ones.

The submission to the vote of the majority of the meeting of members, duly called and held, of
such matters as may properly be brought before the same.

The manner of counting and constituting the majority, in order to adopt binding resolutions, at
ordinary as well as at extraordinary meetings.

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There may furthermore be included in the articles all legal agreements and special conditions the
members may agree to.

ARTICLE 152. The name of a corporation shall be adequate to the purpose or purposes of
the branch of business adopted.

No name can be adopted identical with that of a pre-existing corporation.

ARTICLE 153. The liability of the members of a corporation for the obligations and losses of
the same shall be limited to the funds they contributed or bound themselves to contribute to the
corporate capital. iatdclet

ARTICLE 154. The corporate capital, composed of the stock and of the accrued profits, shall
be liable for the obligations contracted in its management and administration by a person legally
authorized thereto and in the manner prescribed in the articles of incorporation, by-laws, or regulations.

ARTICLE 155. The managers of corporations shall be designated by the members thereof in
the manner determined in the articles or incorporation, by-laws, or regulations.

ARTICLE 156. The managers of a corporation are its agents, and during the time they
observe the rules of the commission they shall not be subject to personal nor to joint liability on account
of the corporation business; and if by reason of infraction of the laws and the statutes of the corporation,
or if by acting in violation of the legitimate resolutions adopted at general meetings, they should incur
losses, and there should be several persons responsible therefor, each one of the latter shall answer pro
rata.

ARTICLE 157. Corporations are under the obligation to publish monthly in the Gaceta de
Madrid detailed balance of the business, stating the rate at which the balance on hand in securities is
calculated, as well as all kinds of property, the prices of which can be quoted on exchange.

ARTICLE 158. The members or stockholders of corporations can not examine the
management thereof nor make any investigation with regard thereto except at the times and in the
manner prescribed by their statutes and regulations.

ARTICLE 159. Corporations existing prior to the publication of this Code, and which are still
governed by their regulations and by-laws, may choose between continuing to be governed thereby or
by the provisions of this Code.

SECTION V
Shares

ARTICLE 160. The common capital of limited copartnerships belonging to the special
partners and that of corporations may be represented by shares or other equivalent certificates.

ARTICLE 161. The shares may be payable to order or to bearer.

ARTICLE 162. The shares payable to order must be recorded in a book which the
copartnership or corporations shall keep for this purpose, and in which subsequent transfers shall be
entered.

ARTICLE 163. The shares payable to bearer shall be enumerated, and shall be recorded in
stub books. cdasia2005

ARTICLE 164. In all certificates of shares, either payable to order or to bearer, there shall
always be entered the sum which has been paid on account of its nominal value or that they are fully

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paid.

In shares payable to order, until the full value thereof has been paid, the first subscriber or holder
of the share, his assignee, and each person succeeding the latter, should they be transferred, shall
answer of the payment of the portion not contributed, jointly and at the option of the directors of the
corporations, against whose liability, thus determined, no agreement whatsoever suppressing it can be
established.

After an action to enforce said liability has been instituted against any of the persons mentioned
in the foregoing paragraph no new action against any other of the holders or assignees of the shares
can be instituted, except when it is proved that the person who was first or previously proceeded against
is insolvent.

When shares not fully paid for are payable to bearer the persons who appear as the holders
thereof only shall be liable for the payment of their share. Should they not appear, making a personal
claim impossible, the corporations or copartnerships may resolve to annul the certificates corresponding
to the shares on which the requisite quotas for the full payment of the value of each one have not been
satisfied. In such case the copartnerships or corporations shall have the right to issue duplicate
certificates of the same shares, in order to convey them for and against the account of the defaulting
holders of the certificates annulled.

All shares shall be payable to order until 50 per cent of their nominal value has been paid in. After
said 50 per cent has been paid in they may be converted into shares payable to bearer, if it is thus
resolved upon by the copartnership or corporations in their by-laws or by means of special acts
subsequent to the same.

ARTICLE 165. New series of stock can not be issued before the total payment of the series
previously issued has been made. Any agreement to the contrary included in the articles of co-
partnership or of corporation, in the by-laws or regulations, or any resolution adopted at a general
meeting of members in opposition to this precept shall be null and of no value.

ARTICLE 166. Corporations may only purchase their own shares with the profits of their
capital for the purpose of amortization.

In case of a reduction in the corporate capital, when it is proper in accordance with the provisions
of this Code, there may also be amortization with a portion of said capital, the legal measures which may
be considered advisable being employed.
ARTICLE 167. Corporations can never give guaranties by pledging their own shares.

ARTICLE 168. Corporations sitting in a general meeting of stockholders previously called for
the purpose shall have the power to resolve upon the reduction or increase of the corporate capital.

In no case can these resolutions be adopted at ordinary meetings unless it was stated, in the call
or sufficient time in advance, that an increase or reduction of the capital would be discussed and voted
upon.

The by-laws of each corporation shall fix the number of members and the amount of capital which
shall be required to be present at meetings at which said capital is to be reduced or increased or in
which the modification or dissolution of the corporation is to be treated of.

In no case shall it be less than three-fourths of the number of the former and two-thirds of the
nominal value of the latter.

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The directors may immediately take steps to carry out the resolution of reduction adopted legally
at a general meeting if the capital remaining after said reduction has been made exceeds 75 per cent of
the amount of the debts and obligations of the corporation.

Otherwise the reduction can not take place until all the debts and obligations pending at the date
of the resolution have been liquidated and paid, unless the copartnership or corporation obtains the
previous consent of its creditors.

For the execution of this article the directors shall present to the judge or court an inventory, in
which the stock held shall be appraised at the average quotation for the last quarter and the property by
a capitalization of the profits accruing there from according to the legal rate of interest on money.

ARTICLE 169. Funds belonging to foreigners invested in corporations shall not be subject to
reprisals in case of war.

SECTION VI
Rights and Obligations of Members

ARTICLE 170. If within the period agreed upon any member does not contribute to the
common funds the amount of capital he has obligated himself to contribute, the association may choose
between proceeding to obtain an execution against his property to recover the portion of capital not
contributed, or to rescind the contract with regard to the member in default, retaining the amounts which
belong to him in the common capital. LPrE05

ARTICLE 171. A member who, for any reason whatsoever, delays the full contribution of his
capital, after the period fixed in the articles of association has elapsed, or should said period not have
been fixed therein, from the time the fund is established, shall pay into the common funds the legal
interest on the money he has not delivered at the proper time and the amount of the damages and
losses he may have occasioned by reason of his default.

ARTICLE 172. When the capital or the part thereof which a partner is to contribute consists
of property, the appraisement thereof shall be made in the manner prescribed in the articles of
association, and should there be no special agreement on the matter the appraisement shall be made by
experts selected by both parties and according to current prices, subsequent increases or reductions
therein being for the account of the association.

In case of disagreement between the experts a third one shall be designated, selected by lot from
among persons of his class who appear as paying the highest taxes in the locality, in order that he may
adjust said disagreement.

ARTICLE 173. The managers or directors of commercial associations can not refuse to
permit partners or stockholders to examine all the vouchers of the balances drawn up showing the
condition of the management, with the exception of the provisions of Articles 150 and 158.

ARTICLE 174. The creditors of a member shall not have, with regard to the association, not
even in the case of the failure of the same, any further right than that of attaching and collecting the
amounts which may be due the debtor partner by reason of profits or liquidation.

The provisions contained in the latter part of the foregoing paragraph shall not be applicable to
stock companies, except when said stock is payable to order, or when the legitimate owner thereof is
established without question, should it be payable to bearer.

SECTION VII

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Special Rules for Loan Associations

ARTICLE 175. The following transactions are mainly the business of these associations:

1. To receive subscriptions or contract loans for the government, and provincial or

municipal corporations.

2. To acquire public funds and shares or securities of all kinds of industrial undertakings
or of loan associations.

3. To create companies of railroads, canals, factories, mines, docks, general

warehouses, lighting, excavations and breaking of ground, irrigation, drainage, and
any other industrial enterprises or those of public utility.

4. To effect the fusion or transformation of all kinds of commercial associations, and

take charge of the issue of shares or securities of the same.

5. To administer and lease all kinds of taxes and public services, and execute for their
own account or assign, with the approval of the Government, contracts subscribed
for the purpose.

6. To sell or give as security all shares, bonds and securities acquired by the
association, and exchange them when they consider it advisable.

7. To make loans on public effects, shares or bonds, produce, commodities, crops,

estates, factories, vessels and their cargoes and other property, and open credits in
account current, receiving as a guaranty property of the same kind.

8. To effect for the account of other associations or persons all kind of collections and
payments, and transact any other business for the account of others.

9. To receive on deposit all kinds of negotiable paper and cash, and keep current
accounts with any corporations, copartnerships, or persons.

10. To draw and discount bills of exchange and other exchange paper.

ARTICLE 176. Loan associations may issue obligations for an amount equal to that invested
in, and which is represented by securities on hand, in accordance with the provisions of the title relating
to the commercial registry.

These obligations shall be payable to order or to bearer at fixed period, which shall not be less
than thirty days in any case, with the amortization, should there be any, and the rate of interest fixed.

SECTION VIII
Banks of Issue and Discount

ARTICLE 177. The following is the principal business of these institutions:

Discounts, deposits, current accounts, collections, loans, drafts, and contracts with the
Government or public corporations.

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ARTICLE 178. Banks can not make transactions extending over a period of more than ninety
days.

Neither shall they discount drafts, promissory notes, or other commercial paper without the
guaranty of two responsible firms.

ARTICLE 179. Banks may issue notes payable to bearer, but their admission in business
transactions shall not be compulsory. This privilege of the issue of notes payable to bearer shall continue
in suspense, however, during the time the privilege actually enjoyed by the Spanish Philippine Bank
(Banco Español Filipino), by virtue of special laws, continues.

ARTICLE 180. Banks shall keep in their vaults in cash at least one-fourth of the amount of
the deposits and current cash accounts and of notes in circulation. iatdc2005

ARTICLE 181. Banks are under the obligation to change their notes for cash upon their
presentation by the bearer.

Noncompliance with this obligation shall give rise to an action to secure a judgment in favor of the
bearer, after a demand for payment, through a notary.

ARTICLE 182. The value of the notes in circulation, together with the sum represented by
the deposits and current accounts, can not exceed, in any case, the amount of the cash reserve and of
the securities on hand which can be realized within the maximum period of ninety days.

ARTICLE 183. Banks of issue and discount shall publish, at least once a month, and under
the liability of their directors, statements of their condition in the Gaceta of Manila and in the official
bulletin, where there is one.

SECTION IX
Railroads and Other Public Works Companies

ARTICLE 184. The following are the principal transactions of these companies:

1. The construction of railroads and other public works of any kind whatsoever.

2. The operation thereof, either in perpetuity or during the period of time fixed in the
concession.

ARTICLE 185. The capital stock of the company, together with the subsidy, should there be
any, shall represent at least half the amount of the total estimate of the work.

The companies can not establish themselves before half of the capital stock has been subscribed
to and 25 per cent thereof has been realized.

ARTICLE 186. Railroad companies and companies of other public works may issue bonds
payable to bearer or to order unrestrictedly and without further limitations than those contained in this
Code and those established in their respective by-laws.

These issues must be recorded in the commercial registry of the province; and if the bonds are
mortgage bonds, said issues shall furthermore be recorded in the escribania or receptoria in charge of
the registry of property.

The issues of prior dates shall have preference over subsequent ones for the payment of
coupons and for the amortization of the bonds, should there be any.

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ARTICLE 187. The bonds issued by companies shall be subject to amortization or not, at
their option, and in accordance with the provisions of their by-laws.

Whenever railroads or other public works enjoying a subsidy from the State are in question, or for
the construction of which a legislative or administrative concession was granted, if the concession is
temporary, the bonds issued by the concessionaire company shall be withdrawn by amortization or
extinguished within the period of said concession, and the State shall receive the work at the termination
of this period free from all incumbrances.

ARTICLE 188. Railroad companies and other public work companies may sell, assign, and
transfer their rights in the respective undertakings, and may also combine with other similar companies.

In order that these transfers and fusions may be effectual, it shall be necessary —

1. That the stockholders unanimously agree thereto, unless it is otherwise prescribed in

the by-laws with relation to a change in the object of the company.

2. That all the creditors of said companies also agree thereto. This consent shall not be
necessary when the purchase or fusion takes place without confounding the
guaranties and mortgages and when the creditors retain their respective rights in full.

ARTICLE 189. For the transfers and fusions of the companies referred to in the foregoing
article no authorization whatsoever shall be necessary from the government, even though the work has
been declared of public utility for the purpose of the right of the exercise of eminent domain, unless the
company enjoys a direct subsidy from the State, or has been incorporated by a law or other
administrative provision.

ARTICLE 190. The action to secure an execution referred to in the law of civil procedure with
regard to the due coupons of securities issued by railroad companies and companies of other public
works, as well as with relation to the bonds drawn by lot for amortization, should there be any, can only
be brought against the net receipts of the company and against the other property owned by the same,
which is not a part of the road, or work, nor necessary for the operation. 2005LPrE

ARTICLE 191. Railroad and other public work companies may employ the funds remaining
from the construction, operation, and payment of credits when they fall due, in the manner they may
deem fit, in accordance with their by-laws.

Said surplus shall be invested at such times, as not to leave in any case the construction,
preservation, operation, and payment of credits unattended to, under the liability of the directors.

ARTICLE 192. After the forfeiture of a concession has been declared the creditors of a
company shall have as a guaranty:

1. The net receipts of the company.

2. When said receipts are not sufficient the net proceeds from the works sold at public
auction for the time still remaining of the concession.

3. The other property owned by the company, if it does not constitute part of the road or
of the work, or is not necessary for its movement or operation.

SECTION X
General Warehouse Associations
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ARTICLE 193. The following are the principal transactions of the associations:

1. The deposit, preservation, and custody of produce and merchandise intrusted to

them.

2. The issue of receipts to order or to bearer.

ARTICLE 194. The receipts issued by general warehouse associations for the produce and
merchandise they accept to care for shall be negotiable, shall be transferred by indorsement,
assignment, or in any other manner transferring ownership, according as to whether they are issued to
order or to bearer, and shall have the force and value of commercial bills of lading.

These receipts must necessarily state the class of goods, with the number or amount each one
represents.

ARTICLE 195. The owner of the receipts is vested with the full ownership of the commodities
deposited in the warehouses of the association, and shall be exempted from all liability for claims
brought against the receiver, the indorsers, or prior owners, except if said claims arise from the
transportation, storage, and preservation of the merchandise.

ARTICLE 196. If a creditor who has legal possession of a receipt as security should not be
paid on the day his claim falls due, he may require the association to sell the goods on deposit sufficient
to cover his credit, and shall have preference over other debts of the depositor, with the exception of
those mentioned in the foregoing article, who shall enjoy the preference.

ARTICLE 197. The sales referred to in the preceding article shall be made in the warehouse
of the association, without the necessity of a judicial decree, at a public auction previously announced,
and through a licensed broker, where there is any, and otherwise through a notary or the person
discharging his duties.

ARTICLE 198. General warehouse associations shall in all cases be liable for the identity
and preservation of the goods on deposit, according to law relating to deposits for which compensation
is agreed on.

SECTION XI
Mortgage Loan Associations or Banks

ARTICLE 199. The following shall be the principal transactions of these associations or
banks:

1. To make loans of real estate on time.

2. To issue mortgage bonds and certificates.

ARTICLE 200. Loans shall be made on mortgages of real estate the ownership of which is
recorded in the registry in the name of the person creating said mortgage, and shall be repaid in annual
payments.

ARTICLE 201. These associations and banks can not issue bonds nor certificates to the
bearer during the time the privilege actually enjoyed by virtue of special laws by the Mortgage Bank of
Spain continues.

ARTICLE 202. Loans made to provinces and to towns are excepted from the mortgage
required by Article 200 when said provinces or towns are legally authorized to contract loans within the
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limit of said authorization, and provided the repayment of the capital loaned, together with interest and
expenses, is assured by revenues, taxes, and capitals, or surtaxes or special imports.

Loans to the State are also excepted which can be made, furthermore, on promissory notes of
purchasers of national property. LPrE05cd

Loans to the State, to provinces, or to towns may be repaid within a period of less than five years.

ARTICLE 203. In no case may loans exceed half the values of the property on which the
mortgage is to be created.

The basis and manner of appraising the real property shall be fixed exactly in the by-laws or
regulations.

ARTICLE 204. The amount of the coupon and the rate of amortization of mortgage
certificates, which are issued by virtue of a loan, shall never exceed the amount of the net annual profits
which the real estate offered and taken in mortgage as security for the said loan produce on an average
during five years. The computation shall always be made with relation to the loan, the income of the
property mortgaged, and the annual premium of the certificates issued by virtue of said mortgage. This
annuity may at any time be less than the net income of the respective real estate mortgaged as security
for the loan and for the issue of the certificates.

ARTICLE 205. When the real estate mortgaged diminishes in value by 40 per cent, the bank
may request the increase of the mortgage in order to cover said depreciation, or the annulment of the
contract, and the debtor shall choose between these two measures.

ARTICLE 206. Mortgage loan banks may issue mortgage certificates to an amount equal to
the total value of the loans on real estate.

They may, furthermore, issue special obligations for the amount of the loans to the State, to
provinces, or to towns.

ARTICLE 207. The mortgage certificates and special obligations treated of in the foregoing
article shall be payable to order or to bearer, with or without amortization, for short or long periods, with
or without premium.

These certificates and obligations, their coupons and the premiums, shall be the basis for an
execution in the manner prescribed in the law of civil procedure.

ARTICLE 208. The mortgage certificates and special obligations, as well as their interest and
coupons, and the premiums assigned to them, shall be secured, with preference over all other creditors
or obligations, by the credits and loans in favor of the bank or association which may have issued the
same and which represent said credits and loans, being, therefore, jointly and severally liable for the
payment thereof.

Without prejudice to this special guaranty, they shall enjoy the general guaranty of the capital of
the association; also with preference in regard to the latter over the credits resulting from other
transactions.

ARTICLE 209. Mortgage loan banks may also make loans secured by mortgage, repayable
in a period of less than five years.

These loans at short time shall be without amortization, and shall not authorize the issue of
mortgage obligations or certificates, and must be made from the capital of the common funds and from
the accrued profits.

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ARTICLE 210. Mortgage loan banks may receive, with or without interest, capital on deposit,
and employ half thereof in making advances for a period not to exceed ninety days on their mortgage
obligations and certificates, as well as on any other deeds which banks of issue and discount receive as
security.

In case of default in payment on the part of the person who secure the loan, the bank may
demand the sale of the certificates or deeds given as security, in accordance with the provisions of
Article 323.

ARTICLE 211. All combinations for mortgage loans, including mutual associations of
landowners, shall be subject, in so far as the issue of mortgage certificates and obligations is concerned,
to the rules contained in this section.

SECTION XII
Special Rules for Agricultural Banks and Associations

ARTICLE 212. The following shall be the principal transactions of these associations:

1. To make loans in cash or in kind, for a period not to exceed three years, on products,
crops, cattle, or other special pledges or securities.

2. To guarantee with their signature promissory notes and paper demandable within a
period not to exceed ninety days, in order to facilitate its discount or negotiation to
the owner or farmer.

3. Other transactions, the purpose of which is to favor the breaking or improving of

ground, draining of lands, and the development of agriculture and other industries
related thereto.

ARTICLE 213. Agricultural loan banks or associations may have agents outside of their
domicile who may personally answer for the solvency of the landowners or tenants who request the
assistance of the association, placing their signature on the promissory note which said association is to
discount or indorse.

ARTICLE 214. The guaranty or indorsement placed by these associations or their

representatives, or by the agents referred to in the foregoing article, on the promissory notes of the
landowner or farmer shall entitle the bearer thereof to demand their payment directly, and to obtain an
execution on the day any of the subscriptions fall due.

ARTICLE 215. The promissory notes of the landowner or farmer, be they either held by the
association or negotiated by the same, shall when they fall due give rise to the execution which may be
proper, in accordance with the law of civil procedure, against the property of the landowner or farmer
who may have subscribed them.

ARTICLE 216. The interest and commission which the agricultural loan associations and
their agents or representatives are to receive shall be unrestrictedly stipulated within the limits fixed by
the by-laws.

ARTICLE 217. Agricultural loan associations can not devote to the transactions referred to in
paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 212 more than 50 per cent of the common capital, applying the remaining
50 per cent to the loans referred to in number 1 of the same article.

SECTION XIII

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Expiration and Liquidation of Commercial Associations

ARTICLE 218. The partial rescission of the articles of general and limited commercial
copartnerships shall take place in any of the following causes:

1. When a partner makes use of the common capital and of the firm name for private
business.

2. When a partner interferes in the management of the company who has no right to do
so, according to the conditions of the articles of copartnership.

3. When any managing partner commits a fraud in the management or in the

bookkeeping of the copartnership.

4. When any partner fails to contribute to the common capital the amount stipulated in
the articles of copartnership, after having been requested to do so.

5. When a partner transacts commercial business for his own account, which is not
lawful in accordance with the provisions of Articles 136, 137, and 138.

6. When a partner who is under the obligation to render personal services to the
copartnership absents himself, after having been requested to return and comply
with his duties, and does not do so or does not give a good reason which temporarily
prevents him from returning.

7. When one or more partners fail to comply, in any manner whatsoever, with the
obligations imposed in the articles of copartnership.

ARTICLE 219. The partial rescission of the copartnership will produce the annulment of the
articles in so far as the partner at fault is concerned, who shall be considered as excluded therefrom,
requiring him to pay the amount of the loss which may correspond to him, should there be any, and the
copartnership shall be authorized to retain the funds he may have contributed to the common capital,
until all the transactions pending at the time of the rescission have been concluded and liquidated,
without allowing him to participate in the profits nor giving him any indemnification.

ARTICLE 220. The liability of the excluded partner as well as that of the copartnership to
third persons for all acts and obligations contracted in the name and for the account of the latter, shall
continue until the record of the partial rescission of the articles of copartnership has been made in the
commercial registry. cdasia

ARTICLE 221. Associations of any kind whatsoever shall be completely dissolved for the
following causes:

1. The termination of the period fixed in the articles of association or the conclusion of
the enterprise which constitutes its purpose.

2. The entire loss of the capital.

3. The bankruptcy of the association.

ARTICLE 222. General and limited copartnerships shall furthermore be totally dissolved for
the following causes:

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1. The death of one of the general partners if the articles of copartnership do not
contain an express agreement that the heirs of the deceased partner are to continue
in the copartnership, or that said copartnership will continue between the surviving
partners.

2. The insanity of a managing partner or any other cause which renders him incapable
of administering his property.

3. The bankruptcy of any of the general partners.

ARTICLE 223. Commercial associations shall not be understood as extended by the implied
or presumed will of the members after the period for which they were constituted has elapsed; and if the
members desire to continue in association they shall draw up new articles, subject to all the formalities
prescribed for their creation, according to the provisions of Article 119.

ARTICLE 224. In general or limited copartnerships, created for an indefinite period, if any of
the partners requests its dissolution, the other partners can not oppose it except for reasons of bad faith
on the part of the persons suggesting it.

It shall be understood that a partner acts in bad faith with regard to the dissolution of the
copartnership when he would thereby derive a private profit which he would not receive should the
copartnership continue.

ARTICLE 225. A member who retires from a partnership on his own accord or who suggests
its dissolution can not prevent pending transactions to be concluded in the manner most convenient to
the common interests, and until said transactions are concluded the division of the property and assets
of the copartnership shall not take place. cdasia

ARTICLE 226. The dissolution of a commercial association, which proceeds from any other
cause but the termination of the period for which it was constituted, shall not cause any prejudice to third
parties until it has been recorded in the commercial registry.

ARTICLE 227. In the liquidation and division of the common assets the rules established in
the articles of association shall be observed, and in their absence the rules contained in the following
articles.

ARTICLE 228. From the time an association is declared in liquidation the representation of
the managing members to make new contracts and obligations shall cease, their powers being limited as
liquidators to collecting the credits of the association, to extinguishing the obligations previously
contracted as they fall due, and to realizing pending transactions. cdasia

ARTICLE 229. In general or limited copartnerships, should there be no opposition on the part
of any of the partners, the person who managed the common funds shall continue in charge of the
liquidation; but should all the partners not agree thereto a general meeting shall be called without delay,
and the decision adopted at the same shall be enforced with regard to the appointment of liquidators
from among the members of the association or not, as well as in all that refers to the form and
proceedings of the liquidation and the management of the common funds.

ARTICLE 230. Under the penalty of removal the liquidators shall —

1. Draw up and communicate to the members, within the period of twenty days, an
inventory of the firm assets with a balance of accounts of the association in
liquidation, according to its books.
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2. Communicate in the same manner to the members every month the condition of the
liquidation.

ARTICLE 231. The liquidators shall be liable to the members for any loss suffered by the
common funds on account of fraud or serious negligence in the discharge of their duty, without thereby
being understood as authorized to compromise or to submit to arbitration the common interests, unless
the members have expressly granted them these privileges.
ARTICLE 232. At the conclusion of the liquidation and when the time has come to make the
division of the common funds, according to the classifications made by the liquidators, or by the meeting
of members, which any of whom can request to be held for this purpose, said liquidators shall make the
division within the period decided by the meeting.

ARTICLE 233. If any of the members considers himself unjustly treated in the division made,
he may make use of his right before the judge or court of competent jurisdiction.

ARTICLE 234. In the liquidation of commercial associations in which minors or incapacitated

persons are interested, the fathers, mothers, or guardians of the latter shall act, as may be the case, with
full powers, as though the business were their own and all the acts done and consented to by said
representatives for their principal shall be valid and irrevocable without the right of restitution and without
prejudice to the liability the former may incur to the latter by reason of their carelessness or negligence.
cdasia

ARTICLE 235. No member can demand the delivery to him of the assets due him from the
common funds while all the debts and obligations of the association have not yet been extinguished, or
the amount thereof has not been deposited, if the delivery can not at once take place.

ARTICLE 236. There shall be deducted from the first divisions made among the members
the sums they may have received for personal expenses or which have been advanced them by the
company for any other reason whatsoever.

ARTICLE 237. The private property of the general partners which has not been included in
the assets of the copartnership when it was formed can not be seized for the payment of the obligations
contracted by the copartnership until after the common assets have been attached.

ARTICLE 238. In corporations in liquidation, the provisions of their by-laws shall continue to
be observed in so far as ordinary or extraordinary general meetings are concerned, as well as with
relation to the accounts to be given of the progress of the liquidation, and to resolve upon what may be
advisable for the common interests. cdasia

TITLE II
Joint Accounts

ARTICLE 239. Merchants may have an interest in the transactions of other merchants,
contributing thereto the amount of capital they may agree upon, and participating in the favorable or
unfavorable results of said transactions in the proportion which they may fix.

ARTICLE 240. Joint accounts shall not be subject, with regard to their formation, to any
formality, and may be privately contracted orally or in writing, and their existence may be proved by any
of the means accepted in law, in accordance with the provisions of Article 51.

ARTICLE 241. In the transactions treated of in the two foregoing articles, no commercial
name common to all participants can be adopted, nor can any further direct credit be made use of

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except that of the merchant who transacts and manages the business in his own name and under his
individual liability.

ARTICLE 242. Persons transacting business with the merchant carrying on the joint
business shall only have a right of action against the latter and not against the other persons interested,
and the latter, on the other hand, shall have no right of action against the third person who made the
transaction with the manager unless said manager formally cedes his rights to them.

ARTICLE 243. The liquidation shall be effected by the manager, and after the transactions
have been concluded he shall render a proper account of its results.

TITLE III
Commercial Commissions
SECTION I
Agents

ARTICLE 244. A commercial commission shall be considered that which involves a

commercial act or transaction and in which the principal or the agent is a merchant or commercial
broker.

ARTICLE 245. The agents may discharge the commission, acting in his own name or in that
of the principal.

ARTICLE 246. When the agent transacts business in his own name, it shall not be necessary
for him to state who is the principal and he shall be directly liable, as if the business were for his own
account, to the persons with whom he transacts the same, said persons not having any right of action
against the principal, nor the latter against the former, the liabilities of the principal and of the agent to
each other always being reserved.

ARTICLE 247. If the agent transacts business in the name of the principal, he must state that
fact, and if the contract is in writing, he must state it therein or in the subscribing clause, giving the name,
surname, and domicile of said principal.

In the case prescribed in the foregoing paragraph, the contract and the actions arising therefrom
shall be effective between the principal and the person or persons who may have transacted business
with the agent; but the latter shall be liable to the persons with whom he transacted business during the
time he does not prove the commission, if the principal should deny it, without prejudice to the obligation
and proper actions between the principal and agent.

ARTICLE 248. In case an agent should refuse the commission intrusted to him, he shall be
obliged to communicate his decision to the principal by the quickest means possible, being required in
any case to confirm it by the first mail after receiving the commission.

He shall also be obliged to exercise due care in the custody and preservation of the merchandise
which the principal may have forwarded to him until the latter appoints a new agent, in view of his
refusal, or until, without awaiting a new designation, the court has taken possession of the goods at the
request of the agent.

The noncompliance with any of the obligations established in the two foregoing paragraphs shall
cause the agent to incur the liability of indemnifying the principal for the loss and damages which may
arise.

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ARTICLE 249. The commission shall be understood as accepted whenever the agent takes
any action in the discharge of the commission intrusted to him by the principal which is not limited to the
action mentioned in the second paragraph of the foregoing article.

ARTICLE 250. The discharge of commissions requiring the disbursement of funds shall not
be compulsory, even though they have been accepted, until the principal places the sum necessary for
the purpose at the disposal of the agent.

The agent may also suspend the taking of further action with regard to the commission intrusted
to him when, after having made use of the sums received, the principal should refuse to forward the
further funds requested by the former.

ARTICLE 251. If an agreement has been made to advance the funds necessary for the
discharge of the commission, the agent shall be obliged to supply them, except in case of the
suspension of payments or bankruptcy of the principal.

ARTICLE 252. The agent who, without legal cause, does not fulfill the commission accepted
or the performance of which he has begun to carry out, shall be liable for all the damages the principal
may suffer by virtue thereof.

ARTICLE 253. After a contract has been made by the agent with all the legal formalities, the
principal must accept all the consequences of the commission, reserving the right of action against the
agent by reason of fault or omission committed in its fulfillment.

ARTICLE 254. The agent, who, in the discharge of his commission, acts in accordance with
the instructions received from the principal, shall be exempted from all liability to the same.

ARTICLE 255. As to matters not expressly foreseen and provided for by the principal, the
agent shall consult him, provided this is permitted by the nature of the business.

But should said agent be authorized to proceed according to his judgment, or the consultation be
not possible, he shall proceed with prudence and in accordance with commercial customs, acting in the
business as if it were his own. Should an unforeseen accident make the execution of the instructions
received hazardous or prejudicial, in the judgment of the agent, he may suspend the fulfillment of the
commission, communicating the reasons for his action to the principal by the speediest means of
communication.

ARTICLE 256. In no case shall the agent proceed against an express order of the principal,
being liable for all the losses and damages he may occasion his principal by doing so.

Similar liability shall be incurred by an agent in cases of malice or of abandonment.

ARTICLE 257. An agent shall bear the risks for the cash he may have in his hands by reason
of the commission.

ARTICLE 258. An agent who, without express authority from the principal, should transact
some business at prices or conditions which are more onerous than the current market rates on the date
on which it took place, shall be liable to the principal for the loss he may have caused him thereby, the
statement that he made transactions at the same time for his own account under similar circumstances
not being admissible as an excuse.

ARTICLE 259. An agent must observe the provisions contained in the laws and regulations
with regard to the transaction which has been intrusted to him, and shall be liable for the results of their

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violation or omission. If he acted in virtue of the express order of the principal, the liabilities which may
arise shall be incurred by both conjointly.

ARTICLE 260. The agent shall frequently communicate to the principal the information which
may concern the successful result of the transaction, informing him of the contracts he may have
executed by the mail of the same or of the next day on which they took place.

ARTICLE 261. The agent shall personally discharge the commissions he may receive, and
can not delegate them without the prior consent of the principal unless he has been previously
authorized to make the delegation; but he may under his liability make use of his employees in the
routine transactions which, according to general commercial customs, are intrusted to the same.

ARTICLE 262. If the agent should have made a delegation or substitution with the authority
of the principal he shall be liable for the acts of the substitute, if the person to whom the business was
delegated was selected by him, being otherwise released from liability.

ARTICLE 263. An agent is required to render, in accordance with his books, a specific and
proper account of the amounts he received for the commission, returning to the principal, at the time and
in the manner prescribed by him, the surplus which appears in his favor.

In case of tardiness he shall pay the legal rate of interest.

The loss of surplus funds shall be suffered by the principal, provided the agent has observed the
instructions of the former with regard to their return.

ARTICLE 264. An agent who, having received funds to discharge a commission, invests
them in or uses them for a purpose other than that of the commission, shall pay the constituent the
principal and its legal interest, and shall be liable from the date on which he received the same, for the
loss and damage caused by reason of noncompliance with the commission, without prejudice to the
criminal action which may be proper.

ARTICLE 265. The agent shall be liable for the goods and merchandise he may receive, in
the terms and with the conditions and descriptions he has been informed of in the consignments, unless
he proves, in receiving the same, the averages and deterioration it has suffered, comparing its condition
with the contents of the bill of lading or charter or of the instructions received from the principal.

ARTICLE 266. An agent who has in his possession merchandise or goods for the account of
another person, shall be liable for their preservation in the condition in which he received the same. This
liability shall cease when their destruction or impairment is due to accidental causes, force majeure,
lapse of time, or by a defect in the article.

In cases of total or partial loss on account of lapse of time or defect in the article, the agent shall
be obliged to prove the impairment of the merchandise in a legal manner, informing the principal thereof
as soon as it is observed.

ARTICLE 267. No agent shall purchase for himself nor for another person what has been
given him to sell, nor shall he sell what he has been requested to purchase, without the permission of
the principal.

He shall furthermore not be permitted to change the marks on the goods he may have purchased
or sold for the account of another.

ARTICLE 268. Agents can not handle goods of the same kind belonging to different parties,
bearing the same mark, without distinguishing them by a countermark, in order to avoid confusion and

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for the purpose of designating the respective property of each principal.

ARTICLE 269. If the goods intrusted to an agent should suffer some change, making their
sale urgent in order to save as much as possible of their value, and the haste were such that there is no
time to advise the principal and await his orders, the agent shall apply to the judge or court of competent
jurisdiction, who shall authorize the sale with the formalities and precautions he may consider most
beneficial to the principal.

ARTICLE 270. An agent can not, without authority from the principal, loan or sell on credit or
on time, the principal being permitted in such cases to require cash payment of the agent, leaving him
any interest, profit, or advantage which may arise from said credit on time.

ARTICLE 271. If an agent, with the due authority, sells on time, he must so state it in the
account or in the communication to the principal, informing him of the names of the purchasers; and
should he not do so, the sale shall be considered as made for cash, in so far as the principal is
concerned.

ARTICLE 272. If an agent receives for a sale, besides the ordinary commission, another one
called a guaranty commission, the risks of the collection shall be for his account, being obliged to pay
the principal the proceeds of the sale at the same periods as agreed upon with the purchaser.

ARTICLE 273. An agent who does not make the collection of the credits of his principal at
the period they are demandable, shall be liable for the losses arising from his negligence or delay unless
he proves that he at the proper time made use of the legal remedies to recover the payment.

ARTICLE 274. An agent who is intrusted with the expedition of merchandise, and who has
received order to insure the same shall be liable, should he not do so, for the damage said merchandise
may suffer, provided the funds necessary for the payment of the premium have been furnished, or
provided he has obligated himself to advance them and should not have immediately advised the
principal of his impossibility to do so.

If during the risk the underwriter is a declared bankrupt it shall be the duty of the agent to renew
the insurance, unless the principal has given him orders to the contrary.

ARTICLE 275. An agent who as such is to forward merchandise to another point, shall make
the transportation contract, complying with the obligations which are imposed on shippers in land and
maritime transportations.

Should he make the contract for transportation in his own name, although he is acting for
another, he shall be responsible to the carrier for all the obligations imposed on shippers in land and
maritime transportations.

ARTICLE 276. Merchandise forwarded on consignment shall be understood as specially

bound to the payment of the commission fees, advances and expenses the agent may have made on
account of its value or proceeds.

As a consequence of this obligation:

1. No agent can be dispossessed of the merchandise he receives on consignment until

he is previously reimbursed for his advances, expenses, and commission charges.

2. The agent must be paid from the proceeds of said merchandise, in preference over
the other creditors of the principal, with the exception of the provisions of Article 375.

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In order to enjoy the preference mentioned in this article it shall be a necessary condition that the
merchandise be in the possession of the consignee or agent, or that it is at his disposal in a public store
or warehouse, or that the shipment was made consigned to his name, the bill of lading, stub or
transportation contract having been received by him properly signed by the carrier.

ARTICLE 277. The principal shall be obliged to pay the agent the commission premium,
unless there is an agreement to the contrary.

Should there be no express agreement with regard to the brokerage, the latter shall be fixed in
accordance with the commercial practices and customs of the market where the commission is fulfilled.
ARTICLE 278. The principal shall furthermore be obliged to pay the agent in cash, upon the
presentation of a proper account, the total amount of his expenses and disbursements, with legal
interest from the day he incurred them until they have been fully repaid.

ARTICLE 279. The principal may revoke the commission intrusted to an agent at any stage
of the transaction, advising him thereof, but always being liable for the result of the transactions which
took place before the latter was informed of the revocation.

ARTICLE 280. A contract shall be rescinded by the death of the agent or by his incapacity;
but it shall not be rescinded by the death or incapacity of the principal, although it may be revoked by his
representatives.

SECTION II
Other Forms of Commercial Commission — Factors, Employees, and Shop Clerks

ARTICLE 281. A merchant may constitute general or special attorneys or agents for the
purpose of transacting business in his name and for his account in whole or in part, or for the purpose of
assisting him therein.

ARTICLE 282. A factor must have the qualifications necessary to obligate himself in
accordance with this Code, and a power of attorney from the person for whose account he transacts the
business.

ARTICLE 283. The manager of an enterprise or manufacturing or commercial establishment

for the account of another, authorized to administer it, direct it, and to transact business relating thereto,
with more or less powers, as the owner may have considered advisable, shall have the legal
qualifications of a factor, and the provisions contained in this section shall be applicable to him.

ARTICLE 284. The factors shall transact business and make contract in the names of their
principals, and in all instruments which they subscribe as such they shall state that they do so by virtue
of a power of attorney or in the name of the person or association they represent.

ARTICLE 285. When factors transact business in the manner prescribed in the foregoing
article, all the obligations they may contract shall devolve upon the principals.

Any claim to compel them to fulfill said obligations shall be brought against the property of the
principal, his establishment or enterprise, and not against the property of the factors, unless it is
confounded with that of the former.

ARTICLE 286. Contracts made by the factor of a manufacturing or commercial establishment

or enterprise, when it is common knowledge that he belongs to a well-known enterprise or association,
shall be understood as made for the account of the owner of said enterprise or association, even though
the factor did not mention this fact at the time of making the contract; or that breach of trust,

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transgression of powers, or appropriation of the goods, which are the subject of the contract, is alleged,
provided these contracts involve objects included in the transactions and business of the establishment,
or if, not being of this kind, it should be proven that the factor acted according to orders from his
principal, or that the latter approved his action in express terms or by positive acts.

ARTICLE 287. A contract made by a factor in his own name shall bind him directly with the
person with whom it was made; but if the transaction was made for the account of the principal, the other
contracting party may bring his action against the factor or against the principal.

ARTICLE 288. Factors can not transact business for their own account, nor interest
themselves in their own names or in that of another person, in negotiations of the same character as
those they are engaged in for their principals, unless the latter expressly authorize them thereto.

Should they negotiate without this authorization, the profits of the negotiation shall be for the
principals and the losses for the account of the factors.

If the principal has granted the factor authorization to make transactions for his own account or in
union with other persons, the former shall not be entitled to the profits, nor shall he participate in the
losses which may be suffered.

If the principal has permitted the factor to have an interest in some transaction, the participation
of the latter in the profits shall be, unless there is an agreement to the contrary, in proportion to the
capital he may have contributed; and should he not have contributed any capital, he shall be considered
a working partner.

ARTICLE 289. The fines which a factor may incur for the violations of the fiscal laws and
ordinances of the public administration in the management of his agency shall be thereupon enforced
against the property he manages, without prejudice to the right of the principal against the factor for his
guilt in the acts which gave rise to the fine.

ARTICLE 290. The powers of attorney granted a factor shall be considered in force until they
are expressly revoked, notwithstanding the death of the principal or of the person from whom they were
received in due form.

ARTICLE 291. The acts and contracts made by the factor shall be valid with regard to his
constituent, provided they are prior to the time the former is informed by legitimate means of the
revocation of the powers of attorney or of the alienation of the establishment.

They shall also be valid with regard to third persons, until the provisions of number 6 or Article 21
have been fulfilled, with regard to the revocation of the powers of attorney.

ARTICLE 292. Merchants may intrust to other persons besides the factors the constant
managements, in their name and for their accounts, of one or more of the branches of the business they
are engaged in by virtue of a written or verbal agreement, associations including such agreements in
their by-laws, and private parties making them known by public notices or by means of circulars to their
correspondents.

The acts of these special employees or agents shall not bind the principals except with regard to
the transactions proper to the branch of business which has been expressly intrusted to them.

ARTICLE 293. The provisions of the foregoing article shall also be applicable to commercial
shop clerks who are authorized to manage a commercial transaction or some branch of the business of
their principals.

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ARTICLE 294. Shop clerk intrusted with selling at retail in a public store shall be considered
authorized to collect the amounts of the sales they may effect, and their receipts shall be valid, being
issued in the name of the principal.

The same power shall be enjoyed by shop clerks who sell in wholesale stores, provided the sales
are for cash and that the payment therefor is made in the said store; but when the collections are to be
made outside of the same, or when they proceed from sales made on time, the receipts must
necessarily be signed by the principal or by his factor, or by an agent legally authorized to make
collections.

ARTICLE 295. When a merchant intrusts a shop clerk with the receipt of merchandise and
the latter receives it without making any remarks with regard to its quantity or quality, its reception shall
have the same effects as though received by the principal.

ARTICLE 296. Without the consent of their principals, neither factors nor shop clerks of
commerce may delegate to others the commissions they receive from the former; and should they do so
without said consent, they shall be directly responsible for the conduct of the substitutes and for the
obligations contracted by the latter.

ARTICLE 297. Factors and shop clerks of commerce shall be liable to their principals for any
damage they may cause their interests by reason of having proceeded in the discharge of their duties
with malice, negligence, or violation of the orders or instructions they may have received.

ARTICLE 298. If, by reason of the service he is rendering, a shop clerk of commerce should
incur some extraordinary expense or should suffer loss regarding which there was no express
agreement between him and his principal, the latter shall be obliged to indemnify him for the loss
suffered.

ARTICLE 299. If the contracts between the merchants and their shop clerks and employees
should have been made for a fixed period, none of the contracting parties, without the consent of the
other, may withdraw from the fulfillment of said contract until the termination of the period agreed upon.

Persons violating this clause shall be subject to indemnify the loss and damage suffered, with the
exception of the provisions contained in the following articles.

ARTICLE 300. The following shall be special reasons for which merchants may discharge
their employees, even though the time of service of the contract has not elapsed:

1. Fraud or breach of trust in the business intrusted to them.

2. The transaction of some commercial business for their own account without the
express knowledge and permission of the principal.

3. Serious disrespect and lack of consideration to said principal or to members of his

family or establishment.

ARTICLE 301. The following shall be reasons for which employees may leave the service of
their principals, even though the time of their contract of service has not elapsed:

1. Nonpayment of the salary of remuneration agreed upon at the times fixed.

2. Noncompliance with any of the other conditions agreed upon in favor of the
employee.

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3. Bad treatment or serious offenses on the part of the principal.

ARTICLE 302. In cases in which no special time is fixed in the contracts of service, any one
of the parties thereto may dissolve it, advising the other party thereof one month in advance.

The factor or shop clerk shall be entitled, in such case, to the salary due for said month

TITLE IV
Commercial Deposits

ARTICLE 303. In order that a deposit may be considered commercial, it is necessary —

1. That the depositary, at least, be a merchant.

2. That the things deposited be commercial objects.

3. That the deposit constitutes in itself a commercial transaction, or be made by reason

or as a consequence of commercial transactions.

ARTICLE 304. The depositary shall have a right to demand compensation for the deposit,
unless there is an express agreement to the contrary.

If the contracting parties have not fixed the amount of the compensation, it shall be determined
according to the current rates in the locality where the deposit was made.
ARTICLE 305. The deposit shall be perfected by means of the delivery to the depositary of
the thing which constitutes its object.

ARTICLE 306. The depositary is obliged to preserve the thing deposited in the manner he
receives it, and return it with its increase, should there be any, when the depositor requests it of him.

In the preservation of the deposit the depositary shall be liable for the injury and damage the
articles deposited may suffer by reason of his malice or negligence, and also for those arising from the
nature or defects of the articles, if he should not in the latter cases personally have done all that was
possible in order to avoid or remedy them, furthermore notifying the depositor immediately upon their
appearance.

ARTICLE 307. When the deposits consist of cash with a specification of the currency
constituting the same, or when they are delivered, sealed, or closed, the increase or reduction in value
suffered by the same shall be for the account of the depositor.

The risks of such deposits shall be run by the depositary, and he shall also be liable for any injury
they may suffer unless he proves that they were caused by force majeure or by insurmountable
accidental case.

When the deposits of cash are made without a specification of the currency or without being
closed or sealed, the depositary shall be liable for its preservation and risks in the manner established in
the second paragraph of Article 306.

ARTICLE 308. The depositaries of bonds, securities, certificates, or instruments which earn
interest are obliged to collect the same when they fall due, as well as to take the steps necessary in
order that the securities deposited may preserve their value and the rights corresponding to the same
according to legal provisions.

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ARTICLE 309. Whenever, with the consent of the depositor, the depositary disposes of the
articles on deposit either for himself or for his business, or for transactions intrusted to him by the former,
the rights and obligations of the depositary and of the depositor shall cease, and the rules and provisions
applicable to the commercial loans, commission, or contract which took the place of the deposit shall be
observed.

ARTICLE 310. Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing articles, deposits made with
banks, with general warehouses, with loan or any other associations, shall be governed in the first place
by the by-laws of the same, in the second by the provisions of this Code, and finally by the rules of
common law, which are applicable to all deposits.

TITLE V
Commercial Loans
SECTION I
Commercial Loans

ARTICLE 311. A loan shall be considered commercial when the following conditions are
present:

1. If one of the contracting parties is a merchant.

2. If the articles loaned are destined to commercial transactions.

ARTICLE 312. If the loan consists of money, the debtor shall pay it by returning an amount
equal to that received, in accordance with the legal value the money may have at the time of the return,
unless there was an agreement with regard to the kind of money in which the payment was to be made,
in which case the fluctuations in value shall be for the loss or benefit of the lender.

In loans of bonds or securities the debtor shall pay returning the same number of the same kind
and same conditions, or their equivalents if the former have been done away with, unless there is an
agreement to the contrary.

If the loans are in kind the debtor return, unless there is an agreement to the contrary, a similar
amount in the same kind and quality, or its equivalent in cash if the kind due should be done away with.

ARTICLE 313. In loans for an indefinite period, or in which no due time has been fixed for
their maturity, payment can not be demanded of the debtor until thirty days have elapsed, to be counted
from the date of the notarial demand which may have been made.

ARTICLE 314. Loans shall not pay any interest unless there is an agreement to that effect in
writing.

ARTICLE 315. The interest of the loan may be agreed upon without any established rate
limitation whatsoever.

Any agreement made in favor of the creditor shall be considered as interest.

ARTICLE 316. Debtors who delay the payment of their debts after the same have fallen due,
must pay, from the day following that on which it became due, the interest agreed upon in such case, or
in the absence of such agreement, the legal interest.

If the loan is in kind, in order to compute the interest, its value shall be graduated by the prices of
the merchandise loaned in the locality in which the return is to be made, on the day following that on

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which it falls due, or by the value fixed by experts if the merchandise should no longer exist at the time
its appraisement is to be made.

And if the loan consists of bonds or securities, the interest, by reason of delay in repayment, shall
be that earned by said securities or bonds, or in the absence thereof, the legal rate of interest, the value
of the securities being determined by their price on exchange, if they are subject to quotation, or at their
current prices on the day following that on which they fall due.

ARTICLE 317. Interest which has fallen due and has not been paid shall not earn interest.
The contracting parties may, however, capitalize the net interest which has not been paid, which, as an
increased principal, shall earn interest.

ARTICLE 318. The receipt of the principal by the creditor without an express reserve of the
right to the interest agreed upon or due shall extinguish the obligation of the debtor with regard to the
same.

Payments on account, when there is no express stipulation with regard to their application, shall
first be applied to the payment of interests as they fall due and then to the principal.

ARTICLE 319. After an action has been brought the accrued interest can not be added to the
principal for the purpose of demanding greater interest.

SECTION II
Loans Guaranteed by the Public Bonds or Securities

ARTICLE 320. A loan with a guaranty of securities quoted on exchange, contained in an

instrument with the intermediation of licensed agents, shall always be considered commercial.

The lender shall have, on the public bonds or securities pledged in accordance with the
provisions of this section, a right to collect his credit with reference over other creditors, who can not
remove said securities from his possession unless they satisfy the loan made on the same.

ARTICLE 321. The rights of preference, treated of in the foregoing article, shall only be had
on the same securities which constituted the guaranty, for which purpose, if said guaranty consisted of
instruments payable to bearer, their numbers shall be stated in the instrument constituting the contract,
and if it consists of stock or transferable securities, the transfer shall be made to the lender, stating in the
instrument, besides the circumstances necessary to prove the identity of the guaranty, that the transfer
does not include the conveyance of ownership.

ARTICLE 322. At the will of the persons interested instead of the numeration of securities
payable to bearer, they may be deposited in the public establishment determined in the exchange
regulations.

ARTICLE 323. After the period for which the loan was contracted has elapsed, the creditor,
unless there was an agreement to the contrary, and without necessity of notifying the debtor, shall be
authorized to request the alienation of the securities, for which purpose he shall present them, with the
instrument constituting the loan, to the board of directors, which, after finding their numeration correct,
shall convey them to the amount necessary through a licensed agent, on the same day if it be possible,
and otherwise on the next.

A lender can only make use of the said right during the hours of the exchange of the day
following that on which the debt fell due.

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ARTICLE 324. Securities which are quoted on exchange payable to bearer, pledged in the
manner fixed in the foregoing articles, shall not be subject to return until the lender has been reimbursed,
without prejudice to the rights and actions of the dispossessed owner against the persons liable
according to the laws, for the acts by virtue of which he has been deprived of the possession and
ownership of the securities given as a guaranty.

TITLE VI

Purchase and Sale and Commercial Barter and Transfers of Non-Negotiable Credits
SECTION I
Purchase and Sale

ARTICLE 325. A purchase and sale of personal property for the purpose of resale, either in
the form purchased or in a different form, for the purpose of deriving profit in the resale, shall be
considered commercial.

ARTICLE 326. The following can not be considered commercial:

1. The purchase of goods destined for the consumption of the purchaser or of the
person for whom they are bought.

2. Sales made by owners and by farmers or cattlemen of the fruits or products of their
crops or cattle, or of the goods in which their rents are paid them.

3. Sales made by artificers in their workshops of the articles constructed or

manufactured by them.

4. The resale made by any person who is not a merchant, of the remainder of the stock
he laid in for his own consumption.

ARTICLE 327. If the sales take place by samples or by a fixed quality known in commerce,
the purchaser can not refuse to receive the articles contracted for, if they are in accordance with the
samples or quality mentioned in the contract.

In case the purchaser refuses to accept them, experts shall be appointed by both parties, who
shall decide whether their reception is proper or not.

If the experts should declare that the articles are to be received, the sale shall be considered as
consummated, and in a contrary case the contract shall be rescinded, without prejudice to the
indemnification to which the purchaser may be entitled.

ARTICLE 328. In the purchase of goods which are not seen or can not be classified by a
fixed quality and well known in commerce it shall be understood that the purchaser reserves the privilege
of examining them and unrestrictedly rescinding the contract if the goods do not suit him.

The purchaser shall also be entitled to rescind said contract if he reserved the right by an express
agreement to examine the goods contracted for.

ARTICLE 329. If the vendor does not deliver the goods sold at the time stipulated, the
purchaser may request the fulfillment or the rescission of the contract, with damages in either case for
the loss he may have suffered by reason of the delay.

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ARTICLE 330. In contracts in which the delivery of a certain amount of merchandise is

stipulated within a certain time, the purchaser shall not be obliged to receive part of said amount even on
the promise of delivering the balance; but if he accepts the partial delivery the sale shall be
consummated with regard to the goods received, reserving the right of the purchaser to demand for the
rest the fulfillment of the contract or its rescission, in accordance with the foregoing article.

ARTICLE 331. The loss or impairment of the goods before their delivery, on account of
unforeseen accidents or without the fault of the vendor, shall entitle the purchaser to rescind the
contract, unless the vendor has constituted himself the depositary of the merchandise, in accordance
with Article 339, in which case his liability shall be limited to that arising by reason of the deposit.

ARTICLE 332. If the purchaser refuses without just cause to receive the goods bought, the
vendor may demand the fulfillment or rescission of the contract, depositing the merchandise in court in
the first case.

The same judicial deposit may be made by the vendor whenever the purchaser delays in taking
charge of the merchandise.

The expenses arising from the deposit shall be defrayed by the person who caused said deposit
to be made.

ARTICLE 333. The damages and impairment suffered by merchandise after the contract has
been perfected and the vendor has the goods at the disposal of the purchaser in the place and at the
time agreed upon, shall be suffered by the purchaser, except in cases of fraud or negligence on the part
of the vendor.

ARTICLE 334. The damages and impairment suffered by merchandise, even though it be by
reason of an accidental case, shall be for the account of the vendor in the following cases:

1. If the sale took place by number, weight, or measure, or if the article sold is not fixed
and determined, with marks and signs which identify it.

2. If by reason of an express agreement or the usages of commerce, in view of the

nature of the article sold, the purchaser has the privilege to previously examine and
investigate it.

3. If the contract contains a clause to the effect that the delivery is not to be made until
the article sold has acquired the conditions stipulated.

ARTICLE 335. If the merchandise sold should perish or deteriorate and said loss is to be
suffered by the vendor, he shall return to the purchaser the amount of the price he may have received.

ARTICLE 336. A purchaser who, at the time of receiving the merchandise, fully examines the
same shall not have a right of action against the vendor, alleging a defect in the quantity or quality of the
merchandise.

A purchaser shall have a right of action against a vendor for defects in the quantity or quality of
merchandise received in bales or packages, provided he brings his action within the four days following
its receipt, and that the damage is not due to accident or to natural defect of the merchandise or to fraud.

In such cases the purchaser may choose between the rescission of the contract or its fulfillment
in accordance with what has been agreed upon, but always with the payment of the damages he may
have suffered by reason of the defects or faults.

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The vendor may avoid this claim by demanding when making the delivery that the merchandise
be examined by the purchaser for his satisfaction with regard to the quantity and quality thereof.

ARTICLE 337. If the period for the delivery of the merchandise sold has not been stipulated,
the vendor must have it at the disposal of the purchaser within twenty-four hours after the contract.

ARTICLE 338. The expenses of the delivery of merchandise in commercial sales shall be
defrayed by the vendor until said merchandise is placed at the disposal of the purchaser, weighed or
measured, unless there is an express agreement to the contrary.

The expenses arising from the receipt and removal of the merchandise from the place of delivery
shall be defrayed by the purchaser.

ARTICLE 339. After the merchandise sold has been placed at the disposal of the purchaser
and after the latter has stated his satisfaction, or if said merchandise is judicially deposited in the case
foreseen in Article 332, the obligation of the purchaser, to pay the price of the same in cash or at the
periods agreed upon with the vendor shall begin.

The vendor shall constitute himself the depositary of the goods sold, and shall be obliged to care
for and preserve them in accordance with the laws governing deposits.

ARTICLE 340. During the time the articles sold are in the possession of the vendor, even
though they be in the nature of deposit, the latter shall have preference to the same over any other
creditor to obtain the payment of the price with the interest arising from the delay.

ARTICLE 341. The delay in the payment of the article purchased shall obligate the purchaser
to pay the legal rate of interest on the amount he owes the vendor.

ARTICLE 342. A purchaser who has not made any claim based on the inherent defects in the
article sold, within the thirty days following its delivery, shall lose all rights of action against the vendor for
such defects.

ARTICLE 343. The amounts which, as earnest money, are delivered in commercial sales
shall always be considered as paid on account of the price and as a proof of the ratification of the
contract, unless there is an agreement to the contrary.

ARTICLE 344. Commercial sales shall not be rescinded by reason of damage; but the
contracting party who acted with malice or fraud, in the contract or in its fulfillment, shall indemnify for
loss and damage, without prejudice to the criminal action which may be proper.

ARTICLE 345. In all commercial sales the vendor shall be liable for eviction and indemnity in
favor of the purchaser, for any prejudice he may suffer by being disturbed in his possession of the same
unless there has been an agreement to the contrary.

SECTION II
Barter

ARTICLE 346. Commercial barter shall be governed by the same rules as are prescribed in
this title for purchase and sale, in so far as they are applicable to the circumstances and conditions of
said contracts.

SECTION III
Transfers of Non-Negotiable Credits

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ARTICLE 347. Commercial credits, which are not negotiable nor payable to the bearer, may
be transferred by the creditor without requiring the consent of the debtor, it being sufficient that the
transfer be communicated to him.

The debtor shall be obligated to the new creditor by virtue of the notification, and from the time
said transfer is made no payment shall be considered legitimate except the one made to the latter.

ARTICLE 348. The conveyer shall answer for the legality of the credit and for the capacity in
which he made the transfer; but he shall not answer for the solvency of the debtor, unless there is an
express agreement to the contrary. cdtai

TITLE VII
Commercial Contracts for Transportation Overland

ARTICLE 349. A contract for all kinds of transportation over land or river shall be considered
commercial:

1. When it involves merchandise or any commercial goods.

2. When, no matter what its object may be, the carrier is a merchant or is customarily
engaged in making transportation for the public.

ARTICLE 350. The shipper as well as the carrier of merchandise and goods may mutually
demand of each other the issue of a bill of lading in which there shall be stated:

1. The name, surname, and domicile of the shipper.

2. The name, surname, and domicile of the carrier.

3. The name, surname and domicile of the person to whom or to whose order the
goods are addressed, or whether they are to be delivered to the bearer of the said
bill.

4. A description of the goods, stating their generic character, their weight, and the
external marks or signs of the packages containing the same.

5. The cost of the transportation.

6. The date on which the shipment is made.

7. The place of the delivery to the carrier.

8. The place and time at which the delivery is to be made to the consignee.

9. The damages to be paid by the carrier in case of delay, if any agreement is made on
this point.

ARTICLE 351. In shipments made over railroads or by other enterprises which are subject to
schedules or the time fixed by regulations, it shall be sufficient that the bills of lading or declarations of
shipment furnished by the shipper refer, with regard to the rate, terms, and special conditions of the
transportation, to the schedules and regulations, the application of which is requested; and should no
schedule be determined the carrier must apply the rate of the merchandise paying the lowest, with the

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condition inherent thereto, always including such statement or reference in the bill of lading delivered to
the shipper.

ARTICLE 352. Bills of lading or tickets in the case of transportation of passengers may be
different, one for persons and another for baggage, but all of them shall contain the name of the carrier,
the date of shipment, the points of departure and arrival, the price, and with regard to baggage, the
number and weight of the packages, with any other indications which may be considered necessary in
order to easily identify them.

ARTICLE 353. The legal basis of the contract between the shipper and the carrier shall be
the bills of lading, by the contents of which all disputes which may arise with regard to their execution
and fulfillment shall be decided without admission of other exceptions than forgery or material errors in
the drafting thereof.

After the contract has been complied with the bill of lading issued by the carrier shall be returned
to him, and by virtue of the exchange of this certificate for the article transported, the respective
obligations and actions shall be considered as canceled, unless in the same act the claims which the
contracting parties desired to reserve are reduced to writing, exception being made of the provisions of
Article 366.

If in case of loss or for any other reason whatsoever, the consignee can not return upon receiving
the merchandise the bill of lading subscribed by the carrier, he shall give said carrier a receipt for the
goods delivered, this receipt producing the same effects as the return of the bill of lading.

ARTICLE 354. In the absence of a bill of lading the respective claims of the parties shall be
decided by the legal proofs that each one may submit in support of his claims, in accordance with the
general provisions established in this Code for commercial contracts. cd

ARTICLE 355. The liability of the carrier shall begin from the moment he receives the
merchandise, in person or through a person intrusted thereto in the place indicated for their reception.

ARTICLE 356. Carriers may refuse to accept packages which appear unfit for transportation;
and if said transportation is to be made over a railroad, and the shipment is insisted on, the company
shall carry it, being exempt from all liability if its objections are so stated in the bill of lading.

ARTICLE 357. If the carrier by reason of well-founded suspicions as to the correctness of the
declaration of the contents of a package should determine to examine it, he shall do so before
witnesses, in the presence of the shipper or of the consignee.

Should the shipper or consignee to be cited not appear, the examination shall be made before a
notary, who shall draft a certificate of the result of the examination, for the proper purposes.

If the declaration of the shipper should be correct, the expenses caused by the examination and
those of carefully repacking the packages shall be defrayed by the carrier, and in a contrary case by the
shipper.

ARTICLE 358. Should no period within which goods are to be delivered be previously fixed,
the carrier shall be under the obligation to forward them in the first shipment of the same or similar
merchandise which he may make to the point of delivery; and should he not do so, the damages
occasioned by the delay shall be suffered by him.

ARTICLE 359. If there should be an agreement between the shipper and the carrier with
regard to the road over which the transportation is to be made, the carrier can not change the route,
unless obliged to do so by force majeure; and should he do so without being forced to, he shall be liable
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for any damage which may be suffered by the goods transported for any other cause whatsoever,
besides being required to pay the amount which may have been stipulated for such a case.

When on account of the said force majeure the carrier is obliged to take another route, causing
an increase in the transportation charges, he shall be reimbursed for said increase after presenting the
formal proof thereof.

ARTICLE 360. The shipper may, without changing the place where the delivery is to be
made, change the consignment of the goods delivered to the carrier, and the latter shall comply with his
orders, provided that at the time of making the change of the consignee the bill of lading subscribed by
the carrier be returned to him, if one were issued, exchanging it for another containing the novation of
the contract.

The expenses arising from the change of consignment shall be defrayed by the shipper.

ARTICLE 361. Merchandise shall be transported at the risk and venture of the shipper, if the
contrary was not expressly stipulated.

Therefore, all damages and impairment suffered by the goods during the transportation, by
reason of accident, force majeure, or by virtue of the nature or defect of the articles, shall be for the
account and risk of the shipper. cdta

The proof of these accidents is incumbent on the carrier.

ARTICLE 362. The carrier, however, shall be liable for the losses and damages arising from
the causes mentioned in the foregoing article if it is proved that they occurred on account of his
negligence or because he did not take the precautions usually adopted by careful persons, unless the
shipper committed fraud in the bill of lading, making him believe that the goods were of a class or quality
different from what they really were.

If, notwithstanding the precaution referred to in this article, the goods transported run the risk of
being lost on account of the nature or by reason of an unavoidable accident, without there being time for
the owners of the same to dispose thereof, the carrier shall proceed to their sale, placing them for this
purpose at the disposal, of the judicial authority or the officials determined by special provisions.

ARTICLE 363. With the exception of the cases prescribed in the second paragraph of Article
361, the carrier shall be obliged to deliver the goods transported in the same condition in which,
according to the bill of lading, they were at the time of their receipt, without any detriment or impairment,
and should he not do so, he shall be obliged to pay the value of the goods not delivered at the point
where they should have been and at the time the delivery should have taken place.

If part of the goods transported should be delivered the consignee may refuse to receive them,
when he proves that he can not make use thereof without the others.

ARTICLE 364. If the effect of the damage referred to in Article 361 should be only a
reduction in the value of the goods, the obligation of the carrier shall be reduced to the payment of the
amount of said reduction in value, after appraisal by experts.

ARTICLE 365. If, on account of the damage, the goods are rendered useless for purposes of
sale or consumption in the use for which they are properly destined the consignee shall not be bound to
receive them, and may leave them on the hands of the carrier, demanding payment therefor at current
market prices.

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If among the goods damaged there should be some in good condition and without any defect
whatsoever, the foregoing provision shall be applicable with regard to the damaged ones, and the
consignee shall receive those which are sound, this separation being made by distinct and separate
articles, no object being divided for the purpose, unless the consignee proves the impossibility of
conveniently making use thereof in this form. cdt

The same provision shall be applied to merchandise in bales or packages, with distinction of the
packages which appear sound.

ARTICLE 366. Within the twenty-four hours following the receipt of the merchandise a claim
may be brought against the carrier on account of damage or average found therein on opening the
packages, provided that the indications of the damage or average giving rise to the claim can not be
ascertained from the exterior of said packages, in which case said claim would only be admitted on the
receipt of the packages.

After the periods mentioned have elapsed, or after the transportation charges have been paid, no
claim whatsoever shall be admitted against the carrier with regard to the condition in which the goods
transported were delivered.

ARTICLE 367. If there should occur doubts and disputes between the consignee and the
carrier with regard to the condition of goods transported at the time of their delivery to the former, the
said goods shall be examined by experts appointed by the parties, and a third one, in case of
disagreement, appointed by the judicial authority, the result of the examination being reduced to writing;
and if the persons interested should not agree to the report of the experts and could not settle their
disputes, said judicial authority shall order the deposits of the merchandise in a safe warehouse, and the
parties interested shall make use of their rights in the proper manner.

ARTICLE 368. The carrier must deliver to the consignee without any delay or difficulty the
merchandise received by him, by reason of the mere fact of being designated in the bill of lading to
receive it; and should said carrier not do so he shall be liable for the damages which may arise
therefrom.

ARTICLE 369. Should the consignee be not found at the domicile indicated in the bill of
lading, or should refuse to pay the transportation charges and expenses, or to receive the goods, the
deposit of said goods shall be ordered by the municipal judge, where there is no judge of first instance,
to be placed at the disposal of the shipper or sender, without prejudice to a person having a better right,
this deposit having all the effects of a delivery.

ARTICLE 370. If a period has been fixed for the delivery of the goods, it must be made within
the same, and otherwise the carrier shall pay the indemnity agreed upon in the bill of lading, neither the
shipper nor consignee being entitled to anything else.

Should no indemnity have been agreed upon and the delay exceeds the time fixed in the bill of
lading, the carrier shall be liable for the damages which may have been caused by the delay.

ARTICLE 371. In cases of delay on account of the fault of the carrier, referred to in the
foregoing articles, the consignee may leave the goods transported on the hands of the carrier, informing
him thereof in writing before the arrival of the same at the point of destination.

When this abandonment occurs, the carrier shall satisfy the total value of the goods, as if they
had been lost or mislaid. aisadc

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Should the abandonment not occur the indemnity for loss and damages on account of the delays
can not exceed the current price of the goods transported on the day and at the place where the delivery
was to have been made. The same provision shall be observed in all cases where this indemnity is due.

ARTICLE 372. The appraisement of the goods which the carrier must pay in case of their
being lost or mislaid shall be fixed in accordance with what is stated in the bill of lading, no proofs being
allowed on the part of the shipper that there were among the goods declared therein articles of greater
value, and money.

Horses, vehicles, vessels, equipment, and all the other principal and accessory means of
transportation, shall be especially obligated in favor of the shipper, although with relation to railroads said
obligation shall be subordinated to the provisions of the laws of concession with regard to property and
to those of this Code with regard to the manner and form of making attachments and retentions against
the said companies.

ARTICLE 373. A carrier who delivers merchandise to a consignee by virtue of agreements or

combined services with other carriers shall assume the obligations of the carriers who preceded him,
reserving his right to proceed against the latter if he should not be directly responsible for the fault which
gives rise to the claim of the shipper or of the consignee.

The carrier making the delivery shall also assume all the actions and rights of those who may
have preceded him in the transportation.

The sender and the consignee shall have an immediate right of action against the carrier who
executed the transportation contract, or against the other carriers who received the goods transported
without reserve.

The reservations made by the latter shall not exempt them, however, from the liabilities they may
have incurred by reason of their own acts.

ARTICLE 374. The consignees to whom the remittance may have been made can not defer
the payment of the expenses and transportation charges on the goods that they received after twenty-
four hours have elapsed from the time of the delivery; and in case of delay in making this payment, the
carrier may request the judicial sale of the goods he transported to a sufficient amount to cover the
transportation charges and the expenses incurred.

ARTICLE 375. The goods transported shall be specifically obligated to answer for the
transportation charges and for the expenses and fees caused by the same during their transportations,
or until the time of their delivery.

This special right shall be limited to eight days after the delivery has been made, and after said
prescription the carrier shall have no further right of action than that corresponding to an ordinary
creditor.

ARTICLE 376. The preference of the carrier to the payment of what is due him for the
transportation and expenses of the goods delivered to the consignee shall not be affected by the
bankruptcy of the latter, provided the action is brought within the eight days mentioned in the foregoing
article.

ARTICLE 377. The carrier shall be liable for all the consequences arising from
noncompliance on his part with the formalities prescribed by the laws and regulations of the public
administration during the entire course of the trip and on the arrival at the point of destination, except

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when his omission arises from his having been induced into error by false statements of the shipper in
the declaration of the merchandise.

If the carrier has acted in accordance with a formal order received from the shipper or consignee
of the merchandise both shall incur liability. cd

ARTICLE 378. Transportation agents shall be obliged to keep a special registry, with the
formalities required by Article 36, in which there shall be entered, in progressive order of numbers and
dates, all the goods the transportation of which is undertaken, stating the circumstances required by
Articles 350 et seq. for the responsive bills of lading.

ARTICLE 379. The provisions contained in Articles 349 et seq. shall also be understood as
relating to persons who, although they do not personally effect the transportation of commercial goods,
contract to do so through others, either as contractors for a special and fixed transaction or as freight
and transportation agents.

In either case they shall be subrogated to the place of the carriers with regard to the obligations
and liability of the latter, as well as with regard to their right.

TITLE VIII
Insurance Contracts
SECTION I
Insurance Contracts in General

ARTICLE 380. An insurance contract shall be commercial if the underwriter is a merchant

and the contract is at a fixed premium, or when the insured pays only a single and constant amount as
the price or compensation for the insurance.

ARTICLE 381. An insurance contract shall be void —

1. By reason of the bad faith of any of the parties at the time of the execution of the
contracts.

2. By reason of the incorrect declaration of the insured, even though made in good
faith, provided it may influence the estimation of the risks.

3. By reason of the omission or concealment on the part of the insured, of facts or

circumstances which may have influenced the execution of the contract.

ARTICLE 382. An insurance contract shall be reduced to writing in a policy or in another

public or private instrument subscribed by the contracting parties.

ARTICLE 383. The policy of an insurance contract must contain —

1. The names of the underwriter and of the insured.

2. The risk against which insurance is taken.

3. The designation and location of the articles insured, and the indications which may
be necessary to determine the nature of the risks.

4. The appraised value of the articles insured, in detailed amounts, according to the
different kinds of articles.

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5. The sum or premium which the insured binds himself to pay the form and manner of
payment, and the place where said payment is to be made.

6. The duration of the insurance.

7. The day and the hour from which the effect of the contract is to begin.

8. The insurance already existing on the same goods.

9. The other agreements made by the contracting parties.

ARTICLE 384. The novations made in the contract during the time of the insurance,
increasing the goods insured, extending the insurance to new risks, reducing the latter or the amount
insured, or introducing any other essential modification, must be included in the policy of insurance.

ARTICLE 385. The insurance contract shall be governed by the licit agreements contained in
each policy or instrument, and in the absence thereof, by the rules contained in this title.

SECTION II
Fire Insurance

ARTICLE 386. All personal or real property which is liable to be destroyed or injured by fire
may be the subject of an insurance contract against fire.

ARTICLE 387. All commercial securities or instruments are excepted from this provision, as
well as those of the State or of private parties, bank notes, shares and obligations of associations,
precious stones and metals, in coin or in bullion, and objects of art, unless an express agreement to the
contrary is made, the value and conditions of said article being fixed in the policy.

ARTICLE 388. In contracts of insurance against fire, in order that the underwriter be
obligated, he must have received the single premium agreed upon or the partial ones at the periods
fixed.

The insurance premium shall be paid in advance, and the payment shall bind the underwriter, no
matter what may be the duration of the insurance.

ARTICLE 389. If the insured delays in paying the premium, the underwriter may rescind the
contract within the first forty-eight hours, immediately advising the insured of his action.

Should he not exercise this right the contract shall be understood as in force and he shall have a
right of action to secure an execution to recover payment for the premium or premiums lapsed without
further requisite than the acknowledgment of the signatures of the policy.

ARTICLE 390. The value set upon the objects of the insurance, the premiums paid by the
insured, the designations, and the appraisements contained in the policy shall not in themselves be
proof of the existence of the articles insured at the time and in the place where the fire occurs.

ARTICLE 391. The substitution or change of the articles insured for others of a different kind
or species not included in the insurance shall annul the contract from the time the substitution took
place.

ARTICLE 392. The alteration or transformation of the articles insured, by reason of an

accident or by the act of a third person, shall entitle either of the contracting parties to rescind the
contract.

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ARTICLE 393. The insurance against fire shall include the repair or indemnity for all the loss
and material damage caused by the direct action of the fire and by the inevitable consequences of the
fire, and particularly —

1. The expenses incurred by the insured by reason of the transportation of the goods
for the purpose of saving them.

2. The damage suffered by the goods saved.

3. The damage to the goods insured caused by the measures adopted by the authority
to reduce or extinguish the fire.

ARTICLE 394. In insurance against meteorological accidents, explosions of gas or steam

apparatus, the underwriter shall only be liable for the consequences of the fires caused by said
accidents, unless there is an agreement to the contrary.

ARTICLE 395. The insurance against fires does not include, unless there is an agreement to
the contrary, the loss suffered by the insured on account of suspension of work or of industry, or of profit
from the estate lost by fire, or any other similar causes which give rise to losses and damages.

ARTICLE 396. The underwriter shall secure the insured against the effects of fire, be it
caused either by an accident or by the malice of strangers or by personal negligence or carelessness of
the persons, he is civilly liable for.

The underwriter shall not secure against fires caused by the crime of the insured; nor by military
forces in time of war nor on account of those caused by mobs or by eruptions, volcanoes and
earthquakes.

ARTICLE 397. The guaranty of the underwriter shall only extend to the goods insured and in
the building in which they were located, and his liability shall in no case exceed the amount at which the
good were valued or at which the risk was appraised.

ARTICLE 398. The insured must give an account to the underwriter of:

1. All previous insurances, and those taken out simultaneously or subsequently.

2. The modifications to which the insurance mentioned in the policy was subjected.

3. The changes and alterations in quality suffered by the goods insured, and which
increase the risks.

ARTICLE 399. The goods insured for their full value can not be again insured while the first
insurance is in force, unless in case the new underwriter guarantee or give bond for the fulfillment of the
contract made with the first underwriter.

ARTICLE 400. If in different contracts one article has been insured for an aliquot part of its
value, the underwriters shall contribute to the indemnity in proportion to the amounts they underwrote.

The underwriter may convey to other underwriters one or more parts of the insurance, but shall
be directly and exclusively liable to the insured.

In cases of conveyance of part of the insurance or of the reinsurance the assignees who receive
the proportionate part of the premium shall be obligated, with regard to the first underwriter, to contribute

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in equal proportion to the indemnity, assuming the liability of the agreements, transactions, and
arrangements made between the insured and the principal or first underwriter.

ARTICLE 401. The insurance shall not be annulled by reason of the death, liquidation, or
bankruptcy of the insured, and sale or transfer of the goods, if the article insured consisted of real estate.

The underwriter may rescind the contract by reason of the death, liquidation, or bankruptcy of the
insured and the sale or transfer of the goods, if the articles insured consisted of personal property, of a
manufacturing establishment, or shop.

In case of rescission, the underwriter must inform the insured or his representatives within the
period of fifteen days, which can not be extended.

ARTICLE 402. If the insured or his representative does not inform the underwriter of any of
the facts enumerated in the second paragraph of the foregoing article within the period of fifteen days,
the contract shall be void from the date on which said acts occurred.

ARTICLE 403. Personal property shall be liable for the payment of the insurance premium
with preference to any other credits whatsoever which may be due.

With regard to real property, the provisions of the mortgage law shall be observed.

ARTICLE 404. In case of a calamity the insured must immediately inform the underwriter,
also filing with the municipal judge a statement of the goods existing at the time of the calamity, and of
goods saved, as well as the loss suffered, according to his valuation.

ARTICLE 405. The insured must prove the loss suffered, proving the existence of the goods
before the fire occurred.

ARTICLE 406. The appraisement of the damage caused by the fire shall be made by experts
in the manner established in the policy, by an agreement between the parties, in the absence of which,
said appraisement shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Civil Procedure.

ARTICLE 407. The experts shall decide:

1. The causes of the fire.

2. The true value of the goods insured on the day of the fire, before it took place.

3. The value of the same goods after the fire, and everything else which may be
submitted to their judgment.

ARTICLE 408. If the amount of loss suffered exceeds the amount of insurance carried, the
insured shall be considered his own underwriter for this excess, and shall be liable for the aliquot part of
the losses and expenses.

ARTICLE 409. The underwriter shall be obliged to pay the indemnity fixed by the experts
within ten days following their decision after it has been agreed to.

In case of delay, the underwriter shall pay the insured the legal interest on the amount due from
the date of the termination of said period.

ARTICLE 410. The decision of the experts shall be the basis for an execution against the
underwriter, if said decision was rendered before a notary; and should this not have been done, after an
acknowledgment and judicial admission of their signatures and of the truth of the instrument.

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ARTICLE 411. The insurer shall choose, within the ten days fixed in Article 409, between
indemnifying for the calamity, or repair, rebuild, or replace, according to their nature or character, in
whole or in part, the goods insured and destroyed by the fire, if an agreement should be reached.

ARTICLE 412. The insurer may acquire the goods saved for himself, provided he pays the
insured their true value in accordance with the appraisement referred to in case No. 2 of Article 407.

ARTICLE 413. The underwriter after paying the indemnity shall be subrogated to the rights
and actions of the insured against all the authors and persons liable for the fire in the necessary capacity
or right, as the case may be.

ARTICLE 414. The underwriter, after the calamity, may rescind the contract with regard to
ulterior accidents, as well as any other contract he may have made with the insured, advising the latter
fifteen days in advance and returning the part of the premium corresponding to the period not elapsed.

ARTICLE 415. The expenses arising from the expert appraisement and the liquidation of the
indemnity shall be defrayed for the account in equal parts of the insured and of the underwriter; but if
there is an obvious exaggeration of the loss on the part of the insured, the latter shall be the only one
liable therefor.

SECTION III
Life Insurance

ARTICLE 416. Life insurance shall include all the combinations which can be made, making
agreements with regard to the payment of premiums or of capital in exchange for the enjoyment of a life
annuity or up to a certain age, or the receipt of capital on the death of a certain person, in favor of the
insured, his legal representative, or of a third person, or any other similar or analogous combination.

ARTICLE 417. The life-insurance policy shall contain, besides the requisites mentioned in
Article 383, the following:

1. A statement of the amount insured for, in capital or in annuity.

2. A statement of the reduction or increase in the capital or annuity assured, and of the
dates from which said increase or reduction is to be computed.

ARTICLE 418. The contract may be made on the life of a person or of several persons
without regard to age, condition, sex, and state of health.

ARTICLE 419. The insurance may be made in favor of a third person, stating in the policy
the name, surname, and conditions of the donor or person insured, or determining said person in some
other indisputable manner.

ARTICLE 420. A person insuring a third person is bound to fulfill the conditions of the
insurance, the provisions of Articles 426 and 430 being applicable to the latter.

ARTICLE 421. Only the person who insures and contracts directly with the underwriting
company shall be bound to the fulfillment of the contract as insured and to the consequent payment of
the premium, by the payment of the single sum or of the partial ones which may have been agreed upon.

The policy, however, shall entitle the person insured to demand the fulfillment of the contract of
the underwriting company.

ARTICLE 422. There shall only be understood embraced in a life insurance the risks which
are enumerated specially and in detail in the policy.
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ARTICLE 423. The insurance in case of death shall not be paid if it occurs in any of the
following manners:

1. If the insured dies in a duel or as the consequences thereof.

2. If he commits suicide.

3. If he suffers capital punishment for ordinary crimes.

ARTICLE 424. The insurance in case of death shall not be paid, unless there is an
agreement to the contrary and the insured pays the extra premium required by the underwriter —

1. If the death occurs in voyages outside the limits of the lands and water under the
jurisdiction of the Spanish provinces of Oceania.

2. If the death occurs in the military or naval service in time of war.

3. If the death occurs in any extraordinary undertaking or act which is acknowledged as

reckless and imprudent.

ARTICLE 425. The insured who delays the payment of the premium or sum agreed upon
shall not have a right to demand the amount of the insurance or the amount insured if the calamity
occurs or the condition of the contract is complied with if he is in default.

ARTICLE 426. If the insured has paid several partial installments and can not continue the
contract, he shall inform the underwriter, reducing the amount insured to the sum which is in just
proportion with the installments paid, in accordance with the calculations which appear in the schedules
of the insurance company, and taking into consideration the risks run by the latter.

ARTICLE 427. The insured must inform the underwriter of the insurance on his life which he
previously or simultaneously takes out in other insurance companies.

The lack of this requisite shall deprive the insured of the benefits of the insurance, he being only
entitled to the face value of the policy.

ARTICLE 428. The amounts which the underwriter must deliver to the person insured, in
fulfillment of the contract, shall be the property of the latter, even against the claims of the legitimate
heirs or creditors of any kind whatsoever of the person who effected the insurance in favor of the former.

ARTICLE 429. The failure or bankruptcy of the insured shall not annul nor rescind the life-
insurance contract, but it may be reduced at the request of the legitimate representatives of the
bankruptcy, or be liquidated in the terms fixed in Article 426.

ARTICLE 430. The life-insurance policies, after the premiums or installments which the
insured bound himself to pay have been satisfied, shall be negotiable, the indorsement being placed on
the policy itself, the insurance company being informed thereof in an authentic manner by the indorser
and indorsee.

ARTICLE 431. The life-insurance policy in which a fixed amount and time for payment is
stipulated, either in favor of the insured or in that of the underwriter, shall be the basis for an action to
obtain an execution with regard to both contracting parties.

The insurance company, after the period fixed in the policy for payment has elapsed, may
furthermore rescind the contract, communicating its decision within a period not exceeding twenty days
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following the due date, and the amount of the policy being for the benefit of the insured exclusively.

SECTION IV
Land Transportation Insurance

ARTICLE 432. All goods which can be transported by the usual means of land locomotion
may be the subject of an insurance contract against the risks of transportation.

ARTICLE 433. Besides the requisites which a policy must contain, according to Article 383, a
transportation-insurance policy must include:

1. The company or person who takes charge of the transportation.

2. The specific kinds of goods insured, with a statement of the number of packages and
their marks.

3. The designation of the point where the goods insured are to be received and where
the delivery is to be made.

ARTICLE 434. Not only the owners of the goods transported, but also all those who are
interested or are liable for their preservation, may take out insurance thereon, stating in the policy in
what capacity they do so.

ARTICLE 435. The contract for transportation insurance shall include risks of all kinds, no
matter what their reason may be, but the underwriter shall not be liable for impairment caused by the
defects inherent in the article or on account of the natural lapse of time, unless there is an agreement to
the contrary.

ARTICLE 436. In cases of impairment on account of a defect in the article or by reason of

lapse of time, the underwriter shall judicially prove the condition of the merchandise insured, within the
twenty-four hours following its arrival at the point it is to be delivered.

Without this proof the exemption which he may bring forward as underwriter shall not be
admissible.

ARTICLE 437. The underwriters shall subrogate themselves to the rights of the insured for
the purpose of bringing an action against the carriers on account of the damage they may be liable for, in
accordance with the provisions of this code.

SECTION V
Other Kinds of Insurance

ARTICLE 438. Any other risks may be the subject of a commercial insurance contract, which
arises from accidental cases or natural accidents, and the agreements made must be complied with
provided they are licit and are in accordance with the provisions of the first section of this title.

TITLE IX
Commercial Guaranties

ARTICLE 439. All guaranties shall be considered commercial the purpose of which is to
insure the fulfillment of a commercial contract, even though the guarantor is not a merchant.

ARTICLE 440. The commercial guaranty must be reduced to writing being otherwise null and
void.

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ARTICLE 441. A commercial guaranty shall be gratuitous unless there is an agreement to

the contrary.

ARTICLE 442. In contracts for an indefinite period, if it has been agreed to give the guarantor
a compensation, the guaranty shall continue in force until, by reason of the complete termination of the
principal contract which is secured, the obligations arising therefrom are definitely canceled, no matter
what their duration may be, unless a fixed period during which the guaranty was to continue in force was
expressly agreed upon.

TITLE X
Contracts and Bills of Exchange
SECTION I
Forms of Bill of Exchange

ARTICLE 443. A bill of exchange shall be considered a commercial instrument, and all the
rights and actions arising therefrom, without distinction of persons, shall be governed by the provisions
of this Code.

ARTICLE 444. The bill of exchange must contain, in order that it may be admissible in suits
—

1. The designation of the place, day, month, and year on which it is issued.

2. The time it falls due.

3. The name and surname, firm name, or title of the person to whose order the
payment is to be made.

4. The amount which the drawer orders paid, stating the same in cash or in the figures
which commerce may have adopted for exchange purposes.

5. The form in which the consideration is acknowledged, either on account of the

receipt of its value in cash or merchandise or other property, which shall be
expressed with the words "value received," or accepting it on those which may be
pending, which shall be indicated by the words "value on account" or "value
understood."

6. The name, surname, firm name, or title of the person from whom the amount of the
bill of exchange is received, or to whose account it is charged.

7. The name and surname, firm name, or title of the person or association on whom it is
drawn, as well as his or its domicile.

8. The signature of the drawer, in his own hand or that of his agent having sufficient
power of attorney for the purpose.

ARTICLE 445. The clauses of "value on account" and "value understood" shall make the
purchaser of the draft liable for the amount of the same in favor of the drawer, in order to demand it or
compensate him in the manner and at the time which both may have agreed on in making the exchange
contract.

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ARTICLE 446. The drawer may draw the bill of exchange:

1. To his own order, stating that he reserves to himself the value thereof.

2. On a person, in order that he may make the payment at the domicile of a third
person.

3. On another person, at the same place as the residence of the drawer.

4. On himself, but by order and for the account of a third person, this being stated in the
bill of exchange.

This circumstance shall not change the liability of the drawer, nor shall the holder acquire any
right whatsoever against the third person for whose account the bill was drawn.

ARTICLE 447. All persons who place their signature on bills of exchange in the name of
others, as drawers, indorsers, or as acceptors of the same, must be authorized thereto by virtue of a
power of attorney of the persons for whom they act, this being stated in the subscribing clause. rsLmLn

The purchasers and holders of bills of exchange shall have a right to demand of the signers the
exhibition of the power of attorney.

The managers of associations shall be understood as authorized by the mere fact of their
appointment.

ARTICLE 448. The drawers can not refuse to issue to holders of the bills of exchange
second and third bills, and as many as they may require of the same bill, provided the request is made
before the bills fall due, excepting the provision of Article 500, there being stated in all of them that they
shall not be considered valid except in case payment was not made on the first bill of exchange issued,
or other prior ones.

ARTICLE 449. In the absence of duplicate copies of the draft issued by the drawer any
holder may give the purchaser a copy, stating that he issues it in the absence of the original, which it is
desired to substitute.

In this copy there must be inserted literally all the indorsements which the original contains.

ARTICLE 450. If the bill of exchange contains some error or lack of legal formality it shall be
looked upon as a promissory note in favor of the holder and for the account of the drawer.

SECTION II
Periods and Due Dates of Drafts

ARTICLE 451. Drafts may be drawn for cash or on time for one of the following periods:

1. At sight.

2. At one or more days, and at one or more months after sight.

3. At one or more days or at one or more months from date.

4. At one or more usances.

5. At a fixed or determined day.

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6. At fairs.

ARTICLE 452. Each one of these periods shall obligate to the payment of the drafts, as
follows:

1. The sight draft, on its presentation.

2. The days or months after sight draft, on the day the period fixed elapses, to be
counted from the day following its acceptance or protest on account of
nonacceptance.

3. The days or months from date draft as well as that at one or more usances, on the
day the period fixed elapses, to be counted from that immediately following the date
of the draft.

4. Those drawn for payment on a certain date, on said date.

5. Those drawn on fairs, on the last day thereof.

ARTICLE 453. The usance of drafts drawn in one place on another in the interior of the
islands of Luzon and Visayas shall be sixty days. cdasia

That of the drafts drawn on Visayas or Luzon in the other Spanish islands of said archipelago
shall be ninety days, as well as for those drawn in ports of China on the sea of the same name, calling
places in the Yellow Sea, and places in the straits of Sonda and Malakka.

In other places, one hundred and twenty days.

ARTICLE 454. The months for the periods of drafts shall be computed from date to date.

If in the month the draft falls due there is no day equivalent to that of the date on which the bill
was drawn it shall be understood that it falls due the last day of the month.

ARTICLE 455. All drafts must be paid on the day they fall due, before sunset, without any
days of grace or of courtesy.

If the day it falls due should be a holiday the draft shall be paid on the previous day.

SECTION III
Obligations of Drawers

ARTICLE 456. The drawer shall be under the obligation to supply the funds necessary to the
person on whom the bill was drawn, unless the draft is made for the account of a third person, in which
case the obligation will rest on the latter, always reserving the direct liability of the drawer with regard to
the purchaser or holder of the draft and that of the third person for whose account the draft was made
with regard to the drawer.

ARTICLE 457. The supply of funds shall be considered made, when, the bill being due, the
person on whom it was drawn is the debtor of an equal or greater sum than the draft to the drawer or to
the third person for whose account the bill was drawn.

ARTICLE 458. The expenses arising from the nonacceptance or nonpayment of the draft
shall be paid by the drawer or by the third person for whose account it was made, unless he proves that
he supplied the funds at the proper time, or that he was a creditor in accordance with the foregoing
article, or that he was specially authorized to draw for the amount in question.
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In any of the three cases, the drawer may require of the person obligated to accept and to pay
the indemnity for the expenses which he may have paid the holder of the draft.

ARTICLE 459. The drawer shall be civilly liable for the results of his draft to all the persons
who successively acquire and convey it.

The effects of this liability are specified in Articles 456, 458, and the following one.

ARTICLE 460. The liability of the drawer shall cease when the holder of the draft has not
presented it or did not protest it in due time and form, provided he proves that when the bill fell due he
had supplied the funds for its payment in the manner prescribed in Articles 456 and 457.

Should he not adduce this proof, he shall reimburse the amount of the draft not paid, even though
the protest was not made at the proper time during the time the draft has not prescribed. Should he
adduce said proof, the liability for the reimbursement shall be incurred by the person who is in default,
provided the draft has not prescribed.

SECTION IV
Indorsements of Bills of Exchange

ARTICLE 461. The ownership of drafts shall be transferred by indorsement.

ARTICLE 462. The indorsement must contain:

1. The name and surname, firm name, or title of the person or company to whom or
which the draft is transferred.

2. The form in which the assignor acknowledges the consideration of the purchaser, as
stated in No. 5 of Article 444.

3. The name and surname, firm name, or title of the person from whom it is received, or
to the account of whom it is charged, if it is not the same person to whom the draft is
transferred.

4. The date on which it is drawn.

5. The signature of the indorser, or of the person legally authorized to sign for him,
which shall be stated in the subscribing clause.

ARTICLE 463. If the statement of the date is omitted in the indorsement, the ownership of
the draft shall not be transferred, and it shall be understood as simply a commission for collection.

ARTICLE 464. If a date prior to the day on which the indorsement was made is placed on the
draft, the indorser shall be liable for the damages suffered thereby by a third person, without prejudice to
the penalty which he may incur for the crime of forgery, if he did so maliciously.

ARTICLE 465. Indorsements signed in blank and those in which the value is not stated shall
transfer the ownership of the draft and shall produce the same effect as if "value received" were written
therein.

ARTICLE 466. Drafts not issued to order can not be indorsed, nor those which have fallen
due or are damaged.

The transfer of ownership shall be licit by the means acknowledged in the common law; and if,
however, an indorsement is made, it shall have no further force than that of a simple cession.

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ARTICLE 467. The indorsement shall produce in each and every one of the indorsers the
liability for the guaranty for the amount of the draft, if it is not accepted, and to its repayment, with the
costs of the protest and re-exchange, if not paid when due, provided the proceeding of presentation and
protest took place at the time and in the manner prescribed in this Code.

This liability shall cease on the part of the indorsers who, at the time of transferring the draft, may
have placed thereon the clause "without my liability."

In such case the indorser shall only answer for the identity of the person making the transfer or
for the right with which he makes the transfer or indorsement.

ARTICLE 468. The broker of negotiable bills of exchange or promissory notes, constitutes
himself guarantor of those he acquires or negotiates for the account of others, if he places his
indorsement thereon, and he can only refuse to do so for good reasons, when there was an express
agreement made by which the principal freed him from the liability. In this case the agent may make the
indorsement at the order of the principal, with the clause, "without my liability."

SECTION V
Presentation of Drafts and Their Acceptance

ARTICLE 469. Drafts which are not presented for acceptance or payment within the period
fixed shall be affected thereby, as well as when they are not protested at the proper time.

ARTICLE 470. Bills of exchange drawn in the islands of Luzon and Visayas and in the
adjacent ones, on any point therein, at sight or at a period counted after sight, must be presented for
collection or acceptance within sixty days from their date.

ARTICLE 471. Bills of exchange drawn in the islands of Luzon, Visayas, and the adjacent
ones, on place in the Mariana Islands, Carolines, and Palaos, shall be presented in the cases referred to
in the foregoing article within the period of six months.

Bills of exchange drawn between the Peninsula and the Spanish Antilles or other points which
are on this side of Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, no matter what may be the form of the period
mentioned therein, shall be presented for payment, or acceptance within six months at most.

With regard to places which are on the other side of said capes the period shall be of one year.

ARTICLE 472. Bills of exchange drawn between the Philippine Islands and the Peninsula, no
matter what may be the form of the period mentioned therein, shall be presented for payment or
acceptance within six months at most. With regard to places situated in the Antilles and other Spanish
territories, the period shall be of one year.

ARTICLE 473. Persons forwarding bills of exchange to points across the seas must send at
least second copies in different vessels from those by which the first were sent; and should they prove
that the carrying vessels suffered some accident on the sea which delayed their voyage, the time which
elapsed up to the date on which said accident was made known in the place of residence of the sender
shall not be taken into consideration in the computation of the legal period.

The same effect shall be produced by the real or presumed loss of the vessels.

In accidents which occurred on land and which are well known, the same rule shall be observed
with regard to the computation of the legal period.

ARTICLE 474. Drafts drawn at sight in foreign countries on places of the territory of the
Philippine Islands shall be presented for collection or acceptance within the forty days following their
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introduction in the respective islands, and those drawn after date at the times stipulated therein.

ARTICLE 475. Drafts drawn in the Philippine Islands on foreign countries shall be presented
in accordance with the laws in force in the place where they are to be paid.

ARTICLE 476. The holders of the drafts drawn at a period counted after the date thereof
need not be presented for acceptance.

The holder of the draft may, if he deems it convenient to him interests, present it to the person on
whom it is drawn before it falls due, and in such case, the latter shall accept it or shall state the reasons
for his refusal to do so.

ARTICLE 477. After a draft has been presented for acceptance within the periods fixed in the
foregoing articles, the person or persons on whom it is drawn must accept it by means of the words "I
accept" or "we accept," adding the date, or state to the holder their reasons for not accepting it.

If the bill of exchange is drawn at sight or at a period to be counted after sight, and the person on
whom it is drawn does not add the date of the acceptance, the period shall run from the day on which
the holder could have presented the draft without delay in the mail; and the computation of time being
made in this manner, and the draft being due, it is collectable on the day immediately following that of
the presentation.

ARTICLE 478. The acceptance of the draft must take place or be refused on the same day
on which the holder presents it for this purpose, and the person of whom acceptance is demanded can
not retain the draft in his possession under any pretext whatsoever.

If the draft presented for acceptance is to be paid in a place other than that of the residence of
the person accepting the same, the domicile in which payment is to be made must be stated in the draft.

The person who receives a draft for acceptance, if it is drawn on him, or to have it accepted if it is
drawn on a third person, and should retain possession thereof expecting another copy, and shall advise
its acceptance by means of a letter, telegram, or other means of writing, shall be liable to the drawer and
indorsers thereof in the same manner as if the acceptance had been placed on the draft in question,
even though such acceptance has not taken place, or even when he refuses the delivery of the copy
accepted to the person legally requesting it.

ARTICLE 479. Bill of exchange can not be accepted conditionally, but the acceptance for a
smaller amount than that contained in the draft can be made, in which case it may be protested for the
balance of the full amount of the same.

ARTICLE 480. The acceptance of a draft shall bind the person accepting it to the payment
thereof when it falls due, and he shall not be relieved from making the payment on account of not having
been supplied with funds by the drawer, nor for any other reason whatsoever except the forgery of the
draft.

ARTICLE 481. In case the acceptance of a bill of exchange is refused it shall be protested,
and in view of said protest the holder shall have a right to require the drawer or anyone of the indorsers
to secure the amount of the draft to his satisfaction, or to deposit the amount thereof, or to reimburse him
for the costs of the protest and of the re-exchange, discounting the legal rate of interest for the period
which still is to elapse until it falls due.

The holder may also, even though the draft has been accepted by the person on whom it is
drawn, if the latter allowed other acceptances to be protested, apply before its due date to the other
person mentioned therein requesting by protest a better security.
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ARTICLE 482. If the holder of a draft allows the periods fixed according to the cases to
elapse without presenting it for acceptance, or does not order it protested, he shall lose all rights to
demand the security, deposit, or reimbursement, with the exception of the provisions of Article 525.

ARTICLE 483. If the holder of a bill of exchange should not present it for collection on the
day it falls due, or, in the absence of payment, does not have it protested on the following day, he shall
lose his right to be reimbursed by the indorsers; and with regard to the drawer, the provisions of Articles
458 and 460 shall be observed.

The holder shall not lose his right to reimbursement, if it were not possible to present the draft or
to take out the protest in time by reason of force majeure.

ARTICLE 484. If the bill of exchange should contain indications made by the drawer or
indorsers of other persons of whom acceptance is to be demanded in default of the one indicated in the
first place, the holder must, after the protest has been made, if the former has refused acceptance,
demand acceptance of the persons mentioned.

ARTICLE 485. Persons who forward drafts from one place to another too late to be
presented or protested at the proper time shall be liable for the consequences which may arise by
reason thereof.

SECTION VI
Guarantees and Their Effects

ARTICLE 486. The payment of a draft may be secured by a written obligation, independent
of that contracted by the acceptor and indorser, known by the name of guarantee (aval).

ARTICLE 487. If the guarantee (aval) is drawn up in general terms and without restriction,
the person giving it shall be liable for the payment of the draft in the same cases and manner as the
person for whom he appears as guarantor; but if the guarantee (aval) is limited as to a determined time,
case, amount, or person it shall not produce further liability than that arising from the terms of the
guarantee (aval).

SECTION VII
Payments

ARTICLE 488. Bills of exchange must be paid to the holder on the day they fall due, in
accordance with Article 455. aisadc

ARTICLE 489. Bills of exchange must be paid in the money designated therein, and if that
could not be procured, in its equivalent, according to the use and customs at the place of payment.

ARTICLE 490. The person paying a bill of exchange before it is due shall not be exempted
from paying the amount of the same if the first payment was not made to a legitimate person.

ARTICLE 491. The payment of a bill of exchange payable to bearer which is due shall be
considered valid, unless a garnishment of the amount thereof by reason of a judicial judgment was
previously issued.

ARTICLE 492. The holder of a draft, who requests its payment, is obliged to satisfy the
person paying it as to his identity, by means of instruments or though residents who are acquainted with
him or who will guarantee his identity.

The absence of this proof shall not prevent the deposit of the amount of the draft on the day of its
presentation in an establishment or with a person accepted by the holder and payor, in which case the
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establishment or person shall retain the sum deposited in his or its possession until the legitimate
payment is made.

The expenses and risks arising from this deposit shall be for the account of the holder of the
draft.

ARTICLE 493. The holder of a draft shall not be obliged to collect its amount before it falls
due; but should he accept said payment it shall be valid, except in case of the bankruptcy of the payor in
the fifteen days following, in accordance with the provisions of Article 879.

ARTICLE 494. Neither shall the holder be obliged, even after the draft has fallen due, to
receive part and not the whole amount of the same, and only with his consent may a portion of its value
be paid and the balance be left standing.

In such case the draft may be protested for the amount which has not been paid, and the holder
shall retain possession thereof, making a memorandum on the same of the amount collected and giving
a separate receipt for said amount.

ARTICLE 495. Drafts accepted must necessarily be paid on the copy which contains the
acceptance.

If the payment is made on any of the other ones, the person who made the payment shall be
liable for the value of the draft to the third person who is the legitimate holder of the acceptance.

ARTICLE 496. The acceptor can not be forced to payment, even though the holder of the
copy not containing the acceptance binds himself to give security to the satisfaction of the former; but in
the latter case the bearer may demand the deposit and formulate the protest in the terms mentioned in
Article 498.

If the acceptor voluntarily admits the security and makes the payment, the former shall be legally
canceled as soon as the acceptance has prescribed which gave rise to the execution of the security.

ARTICLE 497. Bills of exchange not accepted may be paid after they have fallen due and not
before, on the seconds, thirds, or other ones issued in accordance with the provisions of Article 448; but
not on the copies given in accordance with the provision of Article 449, unless one of the copies issued
by the drawer is attached thereto.

ARTICLE 498. The person who may have lost a draft, accepted or not, and the person
having in his possession an accepted first draft and who is awaiting the second, and has no other copy
with which to request the payment, may demand the payor to deposit the amount of the draft in the
public establishment devoted to this purpose, or with a person having their mutual confidence, or
designated by the judge or court in case of disagreement, and if the person obliged to pay should refuse
to make the deposit, the refusal shall be made known by a protest similar to that for nonpayment, and
with this instrument the claimant shall preserve his rights against the persons who may be liable for the
results of the draft.

ARTICLE 499. If the draft lost should have been drawn abroad or outside of the territory of
the Philippine Islands, and the holder proves his ownership by the books or by the correspondence of
the person from whom he received the draft, or by a certificate of the broker who mediated in the
transaction, he shall be entitled to recover its value, if besides this proof he gives sufficient security, the
effects of which shall continue until the copy of the draft given by the said drawer is presented or until it
has prescribed.

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ARTICLE 500. The request for a copy to take the place of the draft lost must be made by the
last holder, from the person who transferred it to him, and thus successively from one to another indorser
until the drawer is reached.

No person can refuse to lend his name and interposition to the steps taken to procure a new
copy, the owner of the draft defraying the expenses which may arise until it is obtained.

ARTICLE 501. The payments made on account of the value of a draft by the person on
whom it is drawn shall reduce the liability of the drawer and indorsers in like proportion.

SECTION VIII
Protests

ARTICLE 502. The nonacceptance or nonpayment of bills of exchange must be proven by

means of a protest, without the first protest having been made exempting the holder from making the
second, and without the death of the person on whom it is drawn nor his condition of bankruptcy
permitting the holder not to make protest.

ARTICLE 503. All protests on account of nonacceptance or nonpayment place the person
who gave rise thereto under the obligation to defray the expenses, losses, and damages.

ARTICLE 504. In order that a protest may be valid, it must necessarily include the following
conditions:

1. It must be made before sunset on the day following that on which acceptance or
payment was refused; and, if it is a holiday, on the first working day thereafter.

2. It must be before a notary public.

3. Said protest must be served on the person on whom the bill of exchange is drawn, in
the place where it is to be paid if he can be found there, and otherwise, on his
employees, should he have any; or, in the absence of the latter, on his wife, children,
or servants, or on the neighbor referred to in Article 505.

4. It must contain an exact copy of the bill of exchange, of its acceptance, should it
have been accepted, and of all the indorsements and indications included in the
same.

5. It must include the demand for payment made on the person who must accept or pay
the bill; and should he not have been found, the demand shall be made upon the
person with whom the proceedings are had.

6. It must also contain the answer given to the demand.

7. It must state in the same manner the threat that the expenses and losses are to be
paid by the person who occasioned them.

8. It must be signed by the person who makes it, and, should he not know how or not
be able to do so, by two attending witnesses.

9. It must state the date and hour when the protest was made.

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10. The person with whom the proceedings were held must be furnished a copy of the
protest drafted on common paper.

ARTICLE 505. The legal domicile in which to make the protest shall be:

1. That designated in the draft.

2. In the absence of such designation, the domicile of the payor at the time.

3. In the absence of either, the last at which he was known.

Should the domicile of the person on whom the draft was drawn not appear to be in any of the
three places above cited, a neighbor having an office in the place where the acceptance and payment is
to be made shall be applied to, with whom the formalities shall be gone through and to whom the copy
shall be delivered.

ARTICLE 506. No matter at what time the protest may be made, the notaries shall retain
possession of the drafts, without delivering the latter or the certified copy of the protest to the holder, until
sunset of the day on which it is made; and if the protest was made for nonpayment, and the payor in the
meantime appears in order to satisfy the amount of the draft and the costs of the protest, the payment
shall be accepted, the draft being delivered with a memorandum thereon stating that the protest has
been paid and canceled.

ARTICLE 507. If the protested draft should contain indications, there shall be included in the
protest the demand made of the persons indicated and their answers and the acceptance or payment, if
they should have done so.

In such cases, if the indications are made for the same place, the period for the conclusion and
delivery of the protest shall be extended to 11 o'clock a.m. of the following working-day.

If the indications are for a different place the protest shall be closed as if it did not contain any, the
holder of the draft being permitted to apply to them within a period not to exceed twice the time required
by the mail to reach said place from the first one designated, and may, through a notary, demand
payment in their order of the persons in each place, renewing the protest with the same if there should
be occasion therefor.

ARTICLE 508. All the formalities of a protest of a bill of exchange must be drafted in a single
instrument, being entered successively in the order they take place.

The notary shall give a certified copy of this instrument to the holder, returning the original draft to
him.

ARTICLE 509. No act or instrument can supply the omission and absence of the protest for
the preservation of the action which may be instituted by the holder against the persons liable for the
legal effects of the draft.

ARTICLE 510. If the person on whom the draft was drawn should become a bankrupt, it may
be protested for nonpayment even before it falls due; and after being protested, the holder may make
use of his right of action against the persons liable for the legal effects of the draft.

SECTION IX
Intervention in Acceptance and Payment

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ARTICLE 511. If after a bill of exchange should be protested for nonacceptance or

nonpayment a third person should appear offering to accept or pay the same for the account of the
drawer or for the account of any of the indorsers, even though there is no prior mandate to do so, the
intervention for the acceptance or payment shall be admitted, one or the other being entered
immediately after the protest, under the signature of the person who intervened and that of the notary,
the name of the person for whose account the intervention took place being stated in the instrument.

If several persons appear to intervene, the person doing so for the drawer shall be preferred, and
if all of them desire to intervene for the indorsers, the one who does so for the prior indorser shall be
preferred.

ARTICLE 512. The person who intervenes in the protest of a bill of exchange, if he accepts
it, shall be liable for its payment in the same manner as if it were drawn on him, being obliged to give
notice of its acceptance by the first mail to the person for whom he intervened; and should he pay it, he
shall be subrogated to the rights of the holder, complying with the obligations prescribed for the latter,
with the following limitations:

1. If he pays said draft for the account of the drawer, the latter only shall be liable to him
for the amount disbursed, the indorsers being free.

2. If he pays it for the account of one of the latter, he shall be entitled to bring an action
against the drawer, against the indorser for whose account he intervened, and
against the others who precede said indorser in the order of their indorsements, but
not against those who may be subsequent.

ARTICLE 513. The intervention in the acceptance shall not deprive the holder of the draft
protested of the right to demand of the drawer or of the indorsers the security for the results.

ARTICLE 514. If the person who did not accept a draft, giving rise to a protest thereby,
should appear to pay it when it falls due, his payment shall be accepted in preference to that of the
person who intervened or wished to intervene for the acceptance or payment; but the expenses caused
by the nonacceptance of the draft at the proper time shall be for his account.

ARTICLE 515. A person who intervenes in the payment of a draft affected in any manner,
shall not have any further right of action than that which the holder would have against the drawer who
did not provide funds at the proper time, or against the person who retains possession of the value of the
draft without having made its delivery or reimbursement.

SECTION X
Actions Which May Be Instituted by the Holder of a Bill of Exchange

ARTICLE 516. In default of the payment of a bill of exchange presented and protested at the
proper time and in the proper manner, the holder shall have a right to demand of the acceptor, of the
drawer, or of any of the indorsers the reimbursement for the costs of protest and re-exchange; but after
an action has been instituted against one of them, it cannot be brought against the rest except in the
case of the insolvency of the defendant.

ARTICLE 517. If the holder of a protested draft would direct his action against the acceptor
before the drawer and indorsers, he shall notify all of them of the protest through a notary public within
the periods mentioned in the fifth section of this title, for the purpose of obtaining their acceptance; and if

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it is directed against any of the latter a similar notification shall be made within the same periods to the
rest.

The indorsers to whom this notification is not made shall be exempted from liability, even when
the defendant is insolvent, and the same shall be understood with regard to the drawer who proves that
he made the provision of funds at the proper time.

ARTICLE 518. If an execution has been had against the property of the debtor for the
payment or reimbursement of a draft and the holder should have been able to realize only a part of his
credit, he may bring an action against the rest for the balance of his account until he is fully reimbursed,
in the manner established in Article 516. cdtai

The same shall be done in case the person proceeded against is declared in bankruptcy, and if
all the persons liable for the draft are in similar circumstances, the claimant shall be entitled to recover
from each set of assets the corresponding dividend until his credit is totally cancelled.

ARTICLE 519. The indorser who pays a protested draft shall subrogate himself to the rights
of the holder thereof, viz.:

1. If the protest were for nonacceptance, against the drawer and the other indorsers
who precede him in order, for the security of the value of the draft, or the deposit in
the absence of security.

2. If it were for non-payment, against the said drawer, acceptor, and prior indorsers for
the recovery of the amount of the draft and of all the costs he may have paid.

If the drawer and the indorser both should appear to make the payment, the drawer shall be
preferred; and if the indorsers only should appear, the one of a prior date.

ARTICLE 520. The drawer as well as any of the indorsers of a protested bill of exchange
may demand, as soon as they receive notice of the protest, that the holder receive the amount with the
legitimate expenses, and deliver to them the draft with the protest and the account of the redraft.

ARTICLE 521. The action arising from bills of exchange to recover, in the respective cases,
of the drawer, acceptors, or indorsers the payment or reimbursement, shall include an attachment, which
must be issued, in view of the draft and of the protest, without further requisite than the judicial
acknowledgment of their signatures by the drawer and indorsers proceeded against. A similar action may
be brought against the acceptor to compel him to make the payment.

The acknowledgment of the signature shall not be necessary to carry out the attachment against
the acceptor when no charge of forgery has been made in the instrument of protest for nonpayment.

ARTICLE 522. The action brought to secure the guaranty or the deposit of the amount of a
bill of exchange, in the cases in which it is proper with regard to the provisions of Articles 481, 492, and
498 of this Code, shall be in accordance with the proceedings prescribed in Book 3, part 2, title 3, of the
law of civil procedure, it being sufficient to accompany to the claim in the first case the protest showing
the nonacceptance of the draft.

ARTICLE 523. Against the actions including attachment by reason of bills of exchange, no
further exceptions shall be admitted but those mentioned in the law of civil procedure.

ARTICLE 524. The amount which a creditor remits or releases a debtor against whom an
action has been brought from the payment or reimbursement of a bill of exchange, shall be understood
as extended also to the rest who may be liable for the effects of the collection.
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ARTICLE 525. The prescription of a protested draft shall not have any effect by reason of
nonpresentation, protest, or its notification at the times which have been stated, with regard to the
drawer or indorser who, after said periods have elapsed, has balanced the amount of the draft in his
accounts with the debtor or reimbursed him with bonds or securities belonging to him.

ARTICLE 526. Bills of exchange protested by reason of nonpayment shall earn interest in
favor of the holders thereof from the date of the protest.

SECTION XI
Re-Exchange and Redraft

ARTICLE 527. The holder of a protested bill of exchange may recover the amount thereof
and the costs of protest and re-exchange by drawing a new bill against the drawer or one of its indorsers
and attaching to this draft the original one, as well as the certified copy of the protest and the account of
the redraft, which shall only contain the following clauses:

1. The amount of the bill of exchange protested.

2. Protest costs.

3. Stamp tax for the redraft.

4. Exchange according to the customs of the place.

5. Brokerage of the transaction.

6. Expense of the correspondence.

7. Loss by reason of the re-exchange.

In this account there shall be stated the name of the person on whom the redraft is made.

ARTICLE 528. All the items of the redraft shall conform to the usages of the place, and the
re-exchange to the current rate on the day of the draft. This will be proven by the official quotation on
exchange, or by means of a certificate of an official agent or broker, should there be one, and in their
absence by that of two recorded merchants.

ARTICLE 529. Only one account or redraft can be made for each bill of exchange, which
account shall be paid by the indorsers of one or the other until it is extinguished by means of the
reimbursement of the drawer.

More than one re-exchange shall not be charged, and the amount thereof shall be graduated by
increasing or reducing the amount due from each person, according as to whether the paper on the
place to which the redraft is addressed is negotiated in that of its domicile with a premium or with
discount, which circumstance shall be proven by means of certificate of an agent, broker, or merchant.
cdasia

ARTICLE 530. The holder of a redraft can not demand legal interest thereon until after the
day he demands payment of the person who is to pay it, in the manner prescribed in Article 63 of this
Code.

TITLE XI
Drafts, Bills, and Promissory Notes Payable to Order, and Checks

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SECTION I
Drafts, Bills, and Promissory Notes Payable to Order

ARTICLE 531. The drafts, bills, and promissory notes payable to order must contain:

1. The specific name of the draft, bill or promissory note.

2. The date of issue.

3. The amount.

4. The time of payment.

5. The person to whose order the payment is to be made, and, in drafts, the name and
domicile of the person against whom they are drawn.

6. The place where the payment is to be made.

7. The origin and kind of value they represent.

8. The signature of the person making the draft, and, in bills or promissory notes, the
person who contracts the obligation to pay them.

Bills which are to be paid in a place other than that of the residence of the payor, shall indicate a
domicile for the payment.

ARTICLE 532. Drafts payable to order between merchants and the bills or promissory notes
likewise payable to order, which arise from commercial transactions, shall produce the same obligations
and effects as bills of exchange, except with regard to acceptance, which is a quality of the latter only.

The bills or promissory notes which are not payable to order shall be considered simple promises
to pay subject to the common law or the commercial law according to their nature, excepting the
provisions contained in the following title.

ARTICLE 533. The indorsements on drafts and promissory notes payable to order must
contain the same statements as those on bills of exchange.

SECTION II
Checks

ARTICLE 534. The order to pay, known in commerce by the name of check, is an instrument
which permits the maker to withdraw for his benefit or for that of a third person the whole or part of the
funds he may have at his disposal in the hands of the depositary.

ARTICLE 535. The check must contain:

The name and the signature of the maker, and the name of the person on whom it is drawn and
his domicile, amount and date of issue, which must be written out, and if payable to bearer, to a
determined person, or to order; in the latter case it shall be transferable by indorsement.

ARTICLE 536. It may be drawn in the same place it is to be paid, or in a different place; but
the maker shall be obliged to previously have the funds on deposit with the person on whom it is drawn.

ARTICLE 537. The holder of a check must present it for payment within five days of its issue,
if drawn in the same place, and within eight days if drawn in another one.

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The holder who allows this period to elapse shall lose his right of action against the indorsers as
well as against the maker, if the funds deposited with the person on whom it is drawn should disappear
because the latter has suspended payments or is a bankrupt.

ARTICLE 538. The period of eight days following the arrival of the mail fixed in the foregoing
article shall also be understood for those drawn abroad.

ARTICLE 539. Payment of a check shall be demanded of the depository on presentation.

The person to whom payment is made shall state in his receipt his name and the date of
payment.

ARTICLE 540. Duplicates of checks can not be issued unless the originals have been
previously canceled after they have lapsed and the agreement thereto of the depository has been
obtained.

ARTICLE 541. The maker or any legal holder of a check shall be entitled to indicate therein
that it be paid to a certain banker or institution, which he shall do by writing across the face the name of
said banker or institution, or only the words "and company."

The payment made to a person other than banker or institution shall not exempt the person on
whom it is drawn, if the payment was not correctly made.

ARTICLE 542. The provisions contained in this Code relating to the joint liability of the maker
and indorsers, and to protests, as well as to the exercise of the actions arising from bills of exchange,
shall be applicable to these instruments.

ARTICLE 543. The foregoing provision, in so far as they are applicable, shall govern pay
orders known by the name of stubs, in current account, of banks or institutions.

TITLE XII
Instruments Payable to Bearer, and Forgery, Robbery, Theft, or Loss of the Same
SECTION I
Instruments Payable to Bearer

ARTICLE 544. All instruments payable to order, discussed in the foregoing title, may be
issued payable to bearer, and shall, the same as the former, include an attachment from the day they fall
due, without further requisite than the acknowledgment of the signature of the person liable for the
payment.

The due date shall be counted according to the rules established for instruments issued payable
to order, and against the action to secure judgment no exceptions but those mentioned in Article 523
shall be admitted.

ARTICLE 545. Other instruments payable to bearer, be they either the ones mentioned in
Article 68 or bank notes, shares, or obligations of other banks, mortgage loan, agricultural loan, or of
associations handling public securities, railroad companies, companies of public works, industrial or
commercial associations, or of any other kind whatsoever, issued in accordance with the laws and
provisions of this Code, shall produce the following effects:

1. They shall include attachment, as well as their coupons, from the day the respective
obligation falls due, or when they are presented, if no due date has been affixed.

2. They shall be transferable by the simple delivery of the instrument.

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3. They are not subject to restitution if they were negotiated on exchange with the
intervention of a licensed agent, and where there is no such agent with the
intervention of a notary public or of a commercial broker.

The rights and actions of the legitimate owner against the vendor or other persons liable
according to the laws for the acts which deprived him of the possession and ownership of the
instruments sold, shall be reserved.

ARTICLE 546. The holder of an instrument payable to bearer shall have a right to compare it
with the originals whenever he considers it advisable.

SECTION II
Robbery; Theft, or Loss of Instruments of Credit and those Payable to Bearer

ARTICLE 547. The following shall be instruments of credit payable to bearer for the effects of
this section, according to the following cases:

1. Instruments of credit against the State, provinces, or municipalities, legally issued.

2. Those issued by foreign countries the quotation of which has been authorized by the
Government, on the recommendation of the board of directors of the association of
agents.

3. Instruments of credit payable to bearer, of foreign enterprises, established in

accordance with the law of the State to which they belong.

4. Instruments of credit payable to bearer issued in accordance with the laws of their
association by national establishments, associations, or enterprises.

5. Those issued by private parties, provided they are mortgaged or are sufficiently
secured. cdt

ARTICLE 548. The dispossessed owner, no matter for what cause it may be, may apply to
the judge or court of competent jurisdiction, asking that the principal, interest, or dividends due or about
to become due, be not paid a third person, as well as in order to prevent the ownership of the instrument
from being transferred to another person, or he may request that a duplicate be issued him.

The judge or court exercising jurisdiction in the district in which the debtor establishment or
person is situated, shall be of competent jurisdiction.

ARTICLE 549. In the complaint made to the judge or court by the dispossessed owner he
must state the name, character, nominal value, number if it should have one, and the series of the
instrument; and furthermore, if it were possible, the time and place he acquired ownership and the
manner of acquisition thereof, the time and place where he received the last interest or dividends, and
the circumstances attending the dispossession.

The person dispossessed, in making the complaint, shall indicate within the district in which the
judge or court of competent jurisdiction exercises the domicile where he is to be served with all
notifications.

ARTICLE 550. If the complaint relates only to the payment of the principal or interest or
dividends which are due or about to become due, the judge or court, when the legality of the acquisition
of the instrument has been proved, must admit said complaint immediately ordering:
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1. That the complaint be immediately published in the Gacetas of Madrid and Manila, in
the Boletin oficial of the province, and in the Diario oficial de Avisos of the place,
should there be one, fixing a short period within which the holder of the instrument
may appear.

2. That it be communicated to the managing office of the institution which issued the
instrument, or to the association or private person from whom it originates, in order
that the payment of the principal or interest may be suspended.

ARTICLE 551. The request shall be heard in the presence of a member of the department of
public prosecution, and in the manner prescribed in the law of civil procedure for interlocutory issues.

ARTICLE 552. After one year has elapsed since the complaint without anybody contradicting
it, and if in the interval two dividends have been distributed, the complainant may request the judge or
court for authority not only to recover the interest or dividends due or about to become due, in the
proportion and means of their collectibility, but also the principal of the instruments, if it is demandable.

ARTICLE 553. After authorization has been granted by the judge or court, the person
dispossessed must, before receiving the interest or dividends, or the principal, give sufficient security to
cover the amount of the annuities recoverable, and, furthermore, twice the amount of the last annuity
due.

After two years have elapsed from the date of the authorization without the complainant being
contradicted, the guaranty shall be canceled.

If the complainant does not wish to or can not give the security, the debtor association or private
person may request the deposit of the interest or dividends past due or of the principal recoverable, and
to receive after the two years the amount deposited if there be no objection.

ARTICLE 554. If the principal should be recoverable after the authorization, it may be
demanded under security or the deposit may be required.

After five years have elapsed, without opposition, from the date of the authorization, or ten years
from the date it was demandable, the person dispossessed may receive the securities deposited.

ARTICLE 555. The solvency of the guaranty shall be passed upon by the judges and courts.

The complainant may give security in bonds of the State, recovering them at the termination of
the period fixed for the guaranty.

ARTICLE 556. If the complaint relates to coupons payable to bearer separated from the
instrument, and the claim should not be overruled, the claimant may recover the amount of the coupons
after three years have elapsed, counted from the date of the judicial declaration admitting the complaint.

ARTICLE 557. The payments made to the person dispossessed in accordance with the rules
above established exempt the debtor from all the liability; and a third person who considers himself
injured shall only retain the right of personal action against the claimant who acted without just cause.

ARTICLE 558. If, before the exemption of the debtor, a third holder should appear with the
instruments the subject of the complaint, the former must retain possession thereof and inform the judge
or court and the first claimant, at the same time stating the name, residence, or manner in which the third
holder may be found. cdasia

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The appearance of a third person shall suspend the effects of the claim until it is decided by the
judge or court.

ARTICLE 559. If the purpose of the complaint should be to prevent the negotiation or
transfer of instruments which can be quoted, the person dispossessed may address himself to the board
of directors of the association of agents, and, in the absence of the latter, to the board of the association
of commercial brokers, complaining of the robbery, theft, or loss, and accompanying thereto a
memorandum giving the series and numbers of the instruments lost, time of their acquisition, and
manner in which they were acquired.

The board of directors, on the same day of the exchanges or on the following one, shall affix a
notice to the board, and shall announce at the opening of the exchange the complaint made, and also
advise the other boards of directors of exchanges of said complaint.

In the absence of a board of directors of the association of agents or of commercial brokers, the
person dispossessed shall complain of the robbery, theft, or loss in the manner prescribed in this article,
to the Judge of First Instance of his domicile, which authority shall make it public by means of letters
regatory to the board of directors of the association of agents of Madrid.

The complaints to which this article limits itself shall be inserted at the expense of the
complainant in the official Gaceta of Manila, and in one or two of the newspapers having the largest
circulation, in the opinion of the judge.

ARTICLE 560. The negotiation of securities lost or stolen, which take place after the
announcements referred to in the foregoing article, shall be void, and the person acquiring the same
shall not enjoy the right of remaining in undisturbed possession thereof; but the right of the third person
against the vendor and against the agent who took part in the transaction shall be reserved.

ARTICLE 561. If the complainant should apply directly to the board of directors of the
exchange of Madrid, or of other exchanges, he shall be required, in order for the complaint to have
effect, to communicate it to the judge of his domicile in order that the latter may ratify the prohibition to
negotiate or transfer the instruments. If the decision rendered should not be communicated to the board
of directors by the first mail after the complainant gave notice, the board shall annul the notice after nine
days from the date of the arrival of the mail at the place of residence of the board of directors have
elapsed, and the transfer of the instruments which may subsequently be made shall be valid.

ARTICLE 562. After five years have elapsed to be counted from the date of the publications
made by virtue of the provisions of Articles 550 and 559, and from that of the ratification of the judge or
court referred to in Article 561, without any objection to the complaint having been made, the judge or
court shall declare the nullity of the instrument stolen or lost, and shall communicate it to the official
managing office, association, or private person from whom it came, ordering the issue of a duplicate to
the person who appears to be its legal owner.

If within the five years a third complainant should appear, the period shall be suspended until the
decision of the judges or courts is rendered.

ARTICLE 563. The duplicate shall bear the same number as the original instrument; it shall
state that it was issued in duplicate; it shall produce the same effects as the former, and shall be
negotiable under the same conditions.

The issue of the duplicate shall annul the original instrument, and this shall be stated in the
entries or records relating thereto.

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ARTICLE 564. If the complaint of the person who suffered the loss should be for the purpose
of recovering the principal, dividends, or coupons, and also to prevent the negotiation or transfer on
exchange of the instruments which can be quoted thereon, the rules established for each one of the
foregoing articles shall be observed according to the cases.

ARTICLE 565. Notwithstanding the provisions contained in this section, if the person
dispossessed should have acquired the instruments on exchange, and if he attaches to the complaint
the certificate of the agent in which the instruments are detailed or specified in such manner that they
can be identified before applying to the judge or court, he may do so to the debtor institution or person,
and even to the board of directors of the association of agents objecting to making the payment and
requesting that the proper notices be issued. In such case the debtor institution or person and the board
of directors shall be obliged to act as if the court or judge has notified them of the admission of the
complaint and that it has been passed upon.

If the judge or court, within the period of one month, does not order the retention or publication,
the complaint made by the person dispossessed shall have no effect, and the debtor institution or person
and the board of directors shall be exempted from all liability.

ARTICLE 566. The foregoing provisions shall not be applicable to the bank notes of the
Spanish Philippine Bank (Banco Español-Filipino), nor to notes of the same kind issued by institutions
subject to the same rule, nor to the instruments payable to bearer issued by the State, which are
governed by special laws, decrees, or regulations.

TITLE XIII
Letters of Credit

ARTICLE 567. Letters of credit are those issued by one merchant to another, or for purpose
of attending to a commercial transaction.

ARTICLE 568. The essential conditions of letters of credit shall be:

1. To be issued in favor of a determined person and not to order.

2. To be limited to a fixed and specified amount, or to one or more indeterminate

amounts, but all included in a maximum sum the limit of which must be exactly
stated.

Letters of credit which do not have one of these conditions shall be considered simply as letters
of recommendation.

ARTICLE 569. Who issues a letter of credit shall be liable to the person on whom it was
issued for the amount paid by virtue of the same within the maximum fixed therein.

Letters of credit can not be protested, even when not paid, nor can the holder thereof acquire any
right of action for said nonpayment against the person who issued it.

The payor shall have a right to demand the proof of the identity of the person in whose favor the
letter of credit was issued.

ARTICLE 570. The donor of a letter of credit may annul it, informing the bearer and the
person to whom it is addressed of said revocation.

ARTICLE 571. The holder of a letter of credit shall pay the donor the amount received
without delay.
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Should he not do so an action including attachment may be brought to recover said amount with
the legal interest and the current exchange in the place where the payment was made to the place
where it was repaid.

ARTICLE 572. If the holder of a letter of credit does not make use thereof within the period
agreed upon with the donor of the same, or, in the absence of a fixed period, within six months from its
date in any point of the Philippine Islands, and within twelve months outside thereof, it shall be void in
fact and in law.

BOOK III
Maritime Commerce
TITLE I
Vessels

ARTICLE 573. Merchant vessels constitute property which may be acquired and transferred
by any of the means recognized by law. The acquisition of a vessel must be included in a written
instrument, which shall not produce any effect with regard to third persons if not recorded in the
mercantile registry. cd

The ownership of a vessel shall also be acquired by the possession thereof in good faith for three
years, with a good title duly recorded.

In the absence of any of these requisites, uninterrupted possession for ten years shall be
necessary in order to acquire ownership.

A captain can not acquire by prescription the ship of which he is in command.

ARTICLE 574. The builders of vessels may employ the material and with regard to their
construction and rigging may follow the system which is most convenient to their interests. Ship agents
and seamen shall be subject to the provisions of the laws and regulations of the public administration on
navigation, customs, health, safety of the vessels, and other similar provisions.

ARTICLE 575. Part owners of vessels shall enjoy the right of option of purchase and
withdrawal in the sales made to strangers; but they can only exercise it within the nine days following the
record of the sale in the registry and by delivering the price at once.
ARTICLE 576. The rigging, tackle, stores, and engine of a vessel, if it is a steamer, shall
always be understood as included in the sale thereof if they are owned by the vendor at the time of the
sale.

The arms, munitions of war, provisions, and fuel shall not be considered as included in the sale.

The vendor shall be under the obligation to deliver to the purchaser a certificate of the record of
the vessel in the registry up to the date of the sale.

ARTICLE 577. If the alienation of the vessel should take place while said vessel is on a
voyage, the purchaser shall receive all the freights it earns from the time it received its last cargo, and
the payment of the crew and other persons which go to make up its complement shall be paid by the
purchaser for the said voyage.

If the sale takes place after the arrival of the vessel at the port of its destination, the freights shall
belong to the vendors and he shall pay the crew and other persons which go to make up its complement,
unless there is an agreement to the contrary in either case.

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ARTICLE 578. If, the steamer being on a voyage or in a foreign port, her owner or owners
should voluntarily alienate her either to Spaniards [*] or to foreigners domiciled in the capital or in a port
of another country, the bill of sale shall be executed before the consul of Spain [*] of the port where she
terminates her voyage, and said instrument shall have no effect with regard to third persons if it is not
recorded in the registry of the consulate. The consul shall immediately forward a true copy of the bill of
purchase of the vessel to the [commercial registry] of the port where said vessel is recorded and
registered.

In every case the alienation of the vessel must be stated, indicating whether the vendor receives
the full price or part thereof, or whether he retains any interest in said vessel in full or in part. In case the
sale is made to a Spaniard, [*] this fact shall be stated in the certificate of navigation. aisadc

When, the ship being on a voyage, it should be rendered useless for navigation, the captain shall
apply to the judge or court of competent jurisdiction of the port of arrival, should it be a foreign port, to
the consul of Spain, [*] should there be one or to the judge, or court, or local authority in the absence of
the former; and the consul, or the judge, or court, or in their absence, the local authority, shall order an
examination of the vessel to be made.

If the consignee or the underwriter should reside at said port, or should have representatives
there, they must be cited in order to take part in the proceedings for the account of whom it may
concern.

ARTICLE 579. After the damage to the vessel has been proven as well as the impossibility of
her being repaired, to continue the voyage, her sale at public auction shall be ordered, subject to the
following rules:

1. The hull of the vessel, her rigging, engines, stores, and other articles shall be
appraised by means of an inventory, said proceedings being brought to the notice of
the persons who may wish to take part in the auction.

2. The order or decree ordering the public auction shall be posted in the usual places,
and shall be advertised in the newspapers of the port where the auction is to be
held, should there be any, and in the other newspapers which the court may
determine.

The period which may be fixed for the auction can not be less than twenty days.

3. These advertisements shall be repeated every ten days, and their publication shall
be stated in the proceedings.

4. The auction shall be held on the day fixed, with the formalities prescribed in the
common law for judicial sales.

5. If the sale should take place when the vessel is in a foreign country, the special
provisions governing such cases shall be observed.

ARTICLE 580. In all judicial sales of vessels for the payment of creditors, the said creditors
shall have preference in the order stated:

1. The credits in favor of the public treasury proven by means of an official certificate of
the competent authority.

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2. The judicial costs of the proceedings, according to an appraisement approved by the

judge or court.

3. The pilotage charges, tonnage dues, and the other sea or port charges, proven by
means of proper certificates of the officers intrusted with the collection.

4. The salaries of the caretakers and watchmen of the vessel and any other expense
connected with the preservation of said vessel, from the time of arrival until her sale,
which appear to have been paid or are due by virtue of a true account approved by
the judge or court. cdta

5. The rent of the warehouse where the rigging and stores of the vessel have been
taken care of, according to contract.

6. The salaries due the captain and crew during their last voyage, which shall be
verified by virtue of the liquidation made from the rolls of the crew and account books
of the vessel, approved by the chief of the Bureau of Merchant Marine where there is
one, and in his absence by the consul, or judge, or court.

7. The reimbursement for the parts of the freight the captain may have sold in order to
repair the vessel, provided the sale has been ordered by a judicial instrument
executed with the formalities required in such cases, and recorded in the certificate
of the registry of the vessel.

8. The part of the price which has not been paid the last vendor, the credits pending for
the payment of material and work in the construction of the vessel, when it has not
navigated, and those arising from the repair and equipment of the vessel and its
provisioning with victuals and fuel during its last voyage.

In order that the credits provided for in this subdivision may enjoy the preference they must
appear by contracts recorded in the commercial registry, or if they were contracted for the vessel while
on a voyage and said vessel has not returned to the port of her registry, they must be made under the
authority required for such cases and entered in the certificate of registry of the said vessel. cdtai

9. The amounts borrowed on bottomry bonds before the departure of the vessel,
proven by means of the contracts executed according to law and recorded in the
commercial registry; the amounts borrowed during the voyage with the authority
mentioned in the foregoing subdivision, filling the same requisites, and the insurance
premium, proven by the policy of the contract or certificate taken from the books of
the broker.

10. The indemnity due the shippers for the value of the goods shipped, which were not
delivered to the consignees, or for averages suffered for which the vessel is liable,
provided either appear in a judicial or arbitration decision.

ARTICLE 581. If the proceeds of the sale are not sufficient to pay all the creditors included in
one number or grade, the amount shall be divided among them pro rata.

ARTICLE 582. After the bill of the judicial sale at auction has been executed and recorded in
the commercial registry, all the other liabilities of the vessel in favor of the creditors shall be considered

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canceled.

But if the sale should have been voluntary, and took place while the vessel was on a voyage, the
creditors shall retain their rights against the vessel until her return to the port of her registry, and three
months after the record of sale in the commercial registry, or after her arrival.

ARTICLE 583. If the ship being on a voyage the captain should find it necessary to contract
one or more of the obligations mentioned in Nos. 8 and 9 of Article 580, he shall apply to the judge or
court if he is in Spanish [*] territory, and otherwise to the consul of Spain, [*] should there be one, and, in
his absence to the judge or court or to the proper local authority, presenting the certificate of the registry
of the vessel treated of in Article 612, and the instruments proving the obligation contracted.

The judge or court, the consul or the local authority as the case may be, in view of the result of
the proceedings instituted, shall make a temporary memorandum in the certificate of their result, in order
that it may be recorded in the registry when the vessel returns to the port of her registry, or so that it can
be admitted as a legal and preferred obligation in case of sale before the return, by reason of the sale of
the vessel by virtue of a declaration of unseaworthiness.

The lack of this formality shall make the captain personally liable to the creditors who may be
prejudiced through his fault.
ARTICLE 584. The vessels subject to the liability for the credits mentioned in Article 580 may
be attached and judicially sold in the manner prescribed in Article 579, in the port in which they are, at
the instance of any of the creditors; but if they should be freighted and ready to sail the attachment can
not take place except for debts contracted for the preparation and provisioning of the vessel for the same
voyage, and even then the attachment shall be dissolved if any person interested in her sailing should
give bond for the return of the vessel within the period fixed in the certificate of navigation, and binding
himself to pay the debt in so far as it may be legal, should the vessel be delayed in her return even if it
were caused by some fortuitous event.
For debts of any other kind whatsoever not included in the said Article 580, the vessel can only
be attached in the port of her registry.

ARTICLE 585. For all purposes of law not modified or restricted by the provisions of this
Code, vessels shall continue to be considered as personal property.
TITLE II
Persons Who May Take Part in Maritime Commerce
SECTION I
Owners of Vessels and Ship Agents

ARTICLE 586. The owner of a vessel and the agent shall be civilly liable for the acts of the
captain and for the obligations contracted by the latter to repair, equip, and provision the vessel,
provided the creditor proves that the amount claimed was invested therein.

By agent is understood the person intrusted with the provisioning of a vessel, or who represents
her in the port in which she happens to be.
ARTICLE 587. The agent shall also be civilly liable for the indemnities in favor of third
persons which arise from the conduct of the captain in the care of the goods which the vessel carried;
but he may exempt himself therefrom by abandoning the vessel with all her equipments and the freight
he may have earned during the voyage.

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ARTICLE 588. Neither the owner of the vessel nor the agent shall be liable for the
obligations contracted by the captain if the latter exceeds his powers and privileges which are his by
reason of his position or have been conferred upon him by the former.

However, if the amounts claimed were made use of for the benefit of the vessel, the owner or
agent shall be liable.

ARTICLE 589. If two or more persons should be part owners of a merchant vessel, an
association shall be presumed as established by the part owners.

This association shall be governed by the resolutions of a majority of the members.

A majority shall be the relative majority of the voting members.

If there should be only two part owners, in case of disagreement the vote of the member having
the largest interest shall be decisive. If the interests are equal, it shall be decided by lot.

The representation of the smallest part in the ownership shall have one vote; and proportionately
the other part owners as many votes as they have parts equal to the smallest one. aisadc

A vessel can not be detained, attached or levied upon execution in her entirety for the private
debts of a part owner, but the proceedings shall be limited to the interest the debtor may have in the
vessel, without interfering with her navigation.

ARTICLE 590. The owners of a vessel shall be civilly liable in the proportion of their
contribution to the common fund, for the results of the acts of the captain, referred to in Article 587.
Each part owner may exempt himself from this liability by the abandonment before a notary of the
part of the vessel belonging to him.

ARTICLE 591. All the part owners shall be liable, in proportion to their respective ownership,
for the expenses of repairs to the vessel, and for other expenses which are incurred by virtue of a
resolution of the majority.

They shall likewise be liable in the same proportion for the expenses of maintenance, equipment,
and provisioning of the vessel, necessary for navigation.

ARTICLE 592. The resolutions of the majority with regard to the repair, equipment, and
provisioning of the vessel in the port of departure shall bind the majority unless the partners in the
minority renounce their participation therein, which must be acquired by the other part owners after a
judicial appraisement of the value of the portion or portions assigned.

The resolutions of the majority relating to the dissolution of the association and sale of the vessel
shall also be binding on the minority.

The sale of the vessel must take place at a public auction, subject to the provisions of the law of
civil procedure unless the part owners unanimously agree otherwise, the right of option to purchase and
to withdraw mentioned in Article 575 being always reserved in favor of said part owners.

ARTICLE 593. The owners of a vessel shall have preference in her charter to other persons,
offering equal conditions and price. If two or more of the former should claim said right the one having
greater interest shall be preferred, and should they have an equal interest it shall be decided by lot.

ARTICLE 594. The part owners shall elect the manager who is to represent them in the
capacity of agent.

The appointment of director or agent shall be revocable at the will of the members.

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ARTICLE 595. The agent, be he at the same time an owner of a vessel or a manager for an
owner or for an association of co-owners, must be qualified to trade and must be recorded in the
merchant's registry of the province.

The agent shall represent the ownership of the vessel, and may in his own name and in such
capacity take judicial and extrajudicial steps in all that relates to commerce.

ARTICLE 596. The agent may discharge the duties of captain of the vessel, subject, in every
case, to the provisions contained in Article 609.

If two or more co-owners request the position of captain, the disagreement shall be decided by a
vote of the members; and if the vote should result in a tie, the position shall be given to the part owner
having the larger interest in the vessel.

If the interest of the petitioners should be the same, and there should be a tie, the matter shall be
decided by lot.
ARTICLE 597. The agent shall select and come to an agreement with the captain, and shall
contract in the name of the owners, who shall be bound in all that refers to repairs, details of equipment,
armament, provisions, fuel, and freight of the vessel, and, in general, in all that relates to the
requirements of navigation.

ARTICLE 598. The agent can not order a new voyage, nor make contracts for a new charter,
nor insure the vessel, without the authority of her owner or by virtue of a resolution of the majority of the
co-owners, unless these privileges were granted him in the certificate of his appointment. cdasia

If he should insure the vessel without authority therefor he shall be secondarily liable for the
solvency of the underwriter.

ARTICLE 599. The managing agent of an association, shall give his co-owners an account of
the results of each voyage of the vessel, without prejudice to always having the books and
correspondence relating to the vessel and to its voyages at the disposal of the same.
ARTICLE 600. After the account of the managing agent has been approved by a relative
majority, the co-owners shall satisfy the expenses in proportion to their interest, without prejudice to the
civil or criminal actions which the minority may deem fit to institute afterwards.

In order to enforce the payment, the managing agent shall have a right of action to secure
execution, which shall be instituted by virtue of a resolution of the majority, and without further
proceedings than the acknowledgment of the signatures of the persons who voted the resolution.
ARTICLE 601. Should there be any profits, the co-owners may demand of the managing
agent the amount due them, by means of an executory action without further requisites than the
acknowledgment of the signatures of the instrument approving the account.

ARTICLE 602. The agent shall indemnify the captain for all the expenses he may have
incurred from his own funds or from those of other persons, for the benefit of the vessel.

ARTICLE 603. Before a vessel goes out to sea the agent shall have at his discretion, a right
to discharge the captain and members of the crew whose contract did not state a definite period nor a
definite voyage, paying them the salaries earned according to their contracts, and without any indemnity
whatsoever, unless there is a special and specific agreement in respect thereto.

ARTICLE 604. If the captain or any other member of the crew should be discharged during
the voyage, they shall receive their salary until the return to the place where the contract was made,

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unless there are good reasons for the discharge, all in accordance with Articles 636 et seq. of this Code.

ARTICLE 605. If the contracts of the captain and members of the crew with the agent should
be for a definite period or voyage, they can not be discharged until the fulfillment of their contracts,
except for reasons of insubordination in serious matters, robbery, theft, habitual drunkenness, and
damage caused to the vessel or to its cargo by malice or manifest or proven negligence.

ARTICLE 606. If the captain should be a part owner in the vessel, he can not be discharged
without the agent returning him the amount of his interest therein, which, in the absence of an agreement
between the parties, shall be appraised by experts appointed in the manner established in the law of civil
procedure.

ARTICLE 607. If the captain who is a part owner should have obtained the command of the
vessel by virtue of a special agreement contained in the articles of co-partnership, he can not be
deprived thereof except for the reasons mentioned in Article 605.
ARTICLE 608. In case of the voluntary sale of the vessel, all contracts between the agent
and captain shall terminate, the right to proper indemnity being reserved in favor of the captain,
according to the agreements made with the agent.

They vessel sold shall remain subject to the security of the payment of said indemnity if, after the
action against the vendor has been instituted, the latter should be insolvent.

SECTION II
Captains and Masters of Vessels
ARTICLE 609. Captains and masters of vessels must be Spaniards [*] having legal capacity
to bind themselves in accordance with this Code, and must prove that they have the skill, capacity, and
qualifications required to command and direct the vessel, as established by marine laws, ordinances, or
regulations, or by those of navigation, and that they are not disqualified according to the same for the
discharge of the duties of that position. cdt

If the owner of a vessel desires to be the captain thereof and does not have the legal
qualifications therefor, he shall limit himself to the financial administration of the vessel, and shall intrust
her navigation to a person possessing the qualifications required by said ordinances and regulations.
ARTICLE 610. The following powers are inherent in the position of captain or master of a
vessel:

1. To appoint or make contracts with the crew in the absence of the agent and propose
said crew, should said agent be present; but the agent shall not be permitted to
employ any member against the captain's express refusal.

2. To command the crew and direct the vessel to the port of its destination, in
accordance with the instructions he may have received from the agent.

3. To impose, in accordance with the agreements and the laws and regulations of the
merchants marine, on board the vessel, correctional punishment upon those who do
not comply with his orders or who conduct themselves against discipline, holding a
preliminary investigation on the crimes committed on board the vessel on the high
seas, which shall be turned over to the authorities, who are to take cognizance
thereof, at the first port touched.

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4. To make contracts for the charter of the vessel in the absence of the agent or of her
consignee, acting in accordance with the instructions received and protecting the
interests of the owner most carefully.

5. To adopt all the measures which may be necessary to keep the vessel well supplied
and equipped, purchasing for the purpose all that may be necessary, provided there
is no time to request instructions of the agent.

6. To make, in similar urgent cases and on a voyage, the repairs to the hull and engines
of the vessel and to her rigging and equipment which are absolutely necessary in
order for her to be able to continue and conclude her voyage; but if she should arrive
at a point where there is a consignee of the vessel, he shall act in concurrence with
the latter.

ARTICLE 611. In order to comply with the obligations mentioned in the foregoing article, the
captain, when he has no funds and does not expect to receive any from the agent, shall procure the
same in the successive order stated below:

1. By requesting said funds of the consignees or correspondents of a vessel.

2. By applying to the consignees of the cargo or to the persons interested therein.

3. By drawing on the agent.

4. By borrowing the amount required by means of a bottomry bond.

5. By selling a sufficient amount of the cargo to cover the amount absolutely necessary
to repair the vessel, and to equip her to pursue the voyage. cd

In the two latter cases he must apply to the judicial authority of the port, if in Spain [*] and to the
Spanish [*] consul, if in a foreign country; and where there should be none, to the local authority,
proceeding in accordance with the prescriptions of Article 583, and with the provisions of the law of civil
procedure.
ARTICLE 612. The following obligations are inherent in the office of captain:

1. To have on board before starting on a voyage a detailed inventory of the hull,

engines, rigging, tackle, stores, and other equipments of the vessel; the navigation
certificate; the roll of the persons who make up the crew of the vessel, and the
contracts entered into with the crew; the list of passengers; the health certificate; the
certificate of the registry proving the ownership of the vessel, and all the obligations
which encumber the same up to that date; the charters or authenticated copies
thereof; the invoices or manifest of the cargo, and the instrument of the expert visit
or inspection, should it have been made at the port of departure.

2. To have a copy of this Code on board.

3. To have three folioed and stamped books, placing at the beginning of each one a
note of the number of folios it contains, signed by the maritime official, and in his
absence by the competent authority.

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In the first book, which shall be called "log book," he shall enter every day the condition of the
atmosphere, the prevailing winds, the course sailed, the rigging carried, the horsepower of the engines,
the distance covered, the maneuvers executed, and other incidents of navigation. He shall also enter the
damage suffered by the vessel in her hull, engines, rigging, and tackle, no matter what is its cause, as
well as the imperfections and averages of the cargo, and the effects and consequence of the jettison,
should there be any; and in cases of grave resolutions which require the advice or a meeting of the
officers of the vessel, or even of the passengers and crew, he shall record the decision adopted. For the
informations indicated he shall make use of the binnacle book, and of the steam or engine book kept by
the engineer.

In the second book, called the "accounting book," he shall enter all the amounts collected and
paid for the account of the vessel, entering specifically article by article, the sources of the collection,
and the amounts invested in provisions, repairs, acquisition of rigging or goods, fuel, outfits, wages, and
all other expenses. He shall furthermore enter therein a list of all the members of the crew, stating their
domiciles, their wages and salaries, and the amounts they may have received on account, either directly
or by delivery to their families.

In the third book, called "freight book," he shall record the entry and exit of all the goods, stating
their marks and packages, names of the shippers and of the consignees, ports of loading and unloading,
and the freight earned. In the same book he shall record the names and places of sailing of the
passengers and the number of packages of which their baggage consists, and the price of the passage.

4. To make, before receiving the freight, with the officers of the crew, and the two experts, if
required by the shippers and passengers, an examination of the vessel, in order to ascertain whether
she is watertight, and whether the rigging and engines are in good condition; and if she has the
equipment required for good navigation, preserving a certificate of the memorandum of this inspection,
signed by all the persons who may have taken part therein, under their liability.

The experts shall be appointed one by the captain of the vessel and the other one by the persons
who request the examination, and in case of disagreement a third shall be appointed by the marine
authority of the port.

5. To remain constantly on board the vessel with the crew during the time the freight is taken
on board and carefully watch the stowage thereof; not to consent to any merchandise or goods of a
dangerous character to be taken on, such as inflammable or explosive substances, without the
precautions which are recommended for their packing, management and isolation; not to permit that any
freight be carried on deck which by reason of its disposition, volume, or weight makes the work of the
sailors difficult, and which might endanger the safety of the vessel; and if, on account of the nature of the
merchandise, the special character of the shipment, and principally the favorable season it takes place,
he allows merchandise to be carried on deck, he must hear the opinion of the officers of the vessel, and
have the consent of the shippers and of the agent.

6. To demand a pilot at the expense of the vessel whenever required by navigation, and
principally when a port, canal, or river, or a roadstead or anchoring place is to be entered with which
neither he, the officers nor the crew are acquainted.

7. To be on deck at the time of sighting land and to take command on entering and leaving
ports, canals, roadsteads, and rivers, unless there is a pilot on board discharging his duties. He shall not
spend the night away from the vessel except for serious causes or by reason of official business. cdtai

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8. To present himself, when making a port in distress, to the maritime authority if in Spain [*]
and to the Spanish [*] consul if in a foreign country, before twenty-four hours have elapsed, and make a
statement of the name, registry, and port of departure of the vessel, of its cargo, and reason of arrival,
which declaration shall be vised by the authority or by the consul if after examining the same it is found
to be acceptable, giving the captain the proper certificate in order to show his arrival under stress and
the reasons therefor. In the absence of marine officials or of the consul, the declaration must be made
before the local authority.

9. To take the steps necessary before the competent authority in order to enter in the
certificate of the Commercial Registry of the vessel the obligations which he may contract in accordance
with Article 583.
10. To put in a safe place and keep all the papers and belongings of any members of the
crew who might die on the vessel, drawing up a detailed inventory, in the presence of passengers as
witnesses, and, in their absence, of members of the crew.

11. To conduct himself according to the rules and precepts contained in the instructions of
the agent, being liable for all that he may do in violation thereof.

12. To give an account to the agent from the port where the vessel arrives, of the reason
thereof, taking advantage of the semaphore, telegraph, mail, etc., according to the cases; notify him the
freight he may have received, stating the name and domicile of the shippers, freight earned, and
amounts borrowed on bottomry bond, advise him of his departure, and give him any information and
data which may be of interest.

13. To observe the rules on the situation of lights and evolutions to prevent collisions.

14. To remain on board in case of danger to the vessel, until all hope to save her is lost, and
before abandoning her to hear the officers of the crew, abiding by the decision of the majority; and if he
should have to take a boat he shall take with him, before anything else, the books and papers, and then
the articles of most value, being obliged to prove in case of the loss of the books and papers that he did
all he could to save them.

15. In case of wreck he shall make the proper protest in due form at the first port reached,
before the competent authority or the Spanish [*] consul, within twenty-four hours, stating therein all the
incidents of the wreck, in accordance with case 8 of this article.

16. To comply with the obligations imposed by the laws and rules of navigation, customs,
health, and others.

ARTICLE 613. A captain who navigates for freight in common or on shares can not make any
transaction for his exclusive account, and should he do so the profit shall belong to the other persons in
interest, and the losses shall be for his own exclusive account.
ARTICLE 614. A captain who, having made an agreement to make a voyage, should not
fulfill his obligation, without being prevented by an accident case or by force majeure, shall pay for all the
losses his action may cause, without prejudice to criminal penalties which may be proper.

ARTICLE 615. Without the consent of the agent, the captain can not have himself substituted
by another person; and should he do so, besides being liable for all the acts of the substitute and bound
to the indemnities mentioned in the foregoing article, the substitute as well as the captain may be
discharged by the agent.

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ARTICLE 616. If the provisions and fuel of the vessel are consumed before arriving at the
port of destination, the captain shall decide, with the consent of the officers of the same, to make the
nearest port to get a supply of either; but if there are persons on board who have provisions of their own
he may force them to turn said provisions over for the common consumption of all persons on board,
paying the price thereof immediately, or at the latest, at the first port reached.

ARTICLE 617. The captain can not contract loans on respondentia, and should he do so the
contracts shall be void.

Neither can he borrow money on bottomry for his own transactions, except on the portion of the
vessel he owns, provided no money has been previously borrowed on the whole vessel, and provided
there does not exist any other kind of lien or obligation thereon. When he is permitted to do so, he must
necessarily state what interest he has in the vessel.

In case of violation of this article the principal, interest, and costs shall be charged to the private
account of the captain, and the agent may furthermore have the right to discharge him.

ARTICLE 618. The captain shall be civilly liable to the agent, and the latter to the third
persons who may have made contracts with the former —

1. For all the damages suffered by the vessel and his cargo by reason of want of skill or
negligence on his part. If a misdemeanor or crime has been committed he shall be
liable in accordance with the Penal Code. cda

2. For all the thefts committed by the crew, reserving his right of action against the
guilty parties.

3. For the losses, fines, and confiscations imposed an account of violation of the laws
and regulations of customs, police, health, and navigation.

4. For the losses and damages caused by mutinies on board the vessel, or by reason
of faults committed by the crew in the service and defense of the same, if he does
not prove that he made full use of his authority to prevent or avoid them.

5. For those arising by reason of an undue use of powers and non-fulfillment of the
obligations which are his in accordance with Articles 610 and 612.

6. For those arising by reason of his going out of his course or taking a course which he
should not have taken without sufficient cause, in the opinion of the officers of the
vessel, at a meeting with the shippers or supercargoes who may be on board.

No exception whatsoever shall exempt him from this obligation.

7. For those arising by reason of his voluntarily entering a port other than his
destination, with the exception of the cases or without the formalities referred to in
Article 612.

8. For those arising by reason of the non-observance of the provisions contained in the
regulations for lights and evolutions for the purpose of preventing collisions.

ARTICLE 619. The captain shall be liable for the cargo from the time it is turned over to him
at the dock, or afloat alongside the ship, at the port of loading until he delivers it on the shores or on the

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discharging wharf, of the port of unloading unless the contrary has been expressly agreed upon.

ARTICLE 620. The captain shall not be liable for the damages caused to the vessel or to the
cargo by reason of force majeure; but he shall always be so — no agreement to the contrary being valid
— for those arising through his own fault.

Neither shall he be personally liable for the obligations he may have contracted for the repair,
equipment, and provisioning of the vessel, which shall be incurred by the agent, unless the former has
expressly bound himself personally or signed a draft or promissory note in his name.

ARTICLE 621. A captain who borrows money on bottomry, or who pledges or sells
merchandise or provisions in other cases and without the formalities prescribed in this Code, shall be
liable for the principle, interest, and costs, and shall indemnify for the damages he may cause.

The captain who commits fraud in his accounts shall reimburse the amount defrauded, and shall
be subject to the provisions contained in the Penal Code.
ARTICLE 622. If when on a voyage the captain should receive news of the appearance of
privateers or men of war against his flag, he shall be obliged to make the nearest neutral port, inform his
agent or shippers, and await an occasion to sail under convoy or until the danger is over or to receive
final orders from the agent or shippers.

ARTICLE 623. If he should find himself being attacked by a privateer and after having done
all that was possible to avoid the encounter and have resisted the delivery of the equipment of the vessel
or of its cargo, they should be forcibly taken away from him, or he should be obliged to deliver them, he
shall make an entry in his freight book and shall prove the fact before the competent authority at the first
port he touches. cdasia

After the force majeure has been proven, he shall be exempted from liability.

ARTICLE 624. A captain whose vessel has gone through a hurricane or who believes that
the cargo has suffered damages or averages, shall make a protest thereon before the competent
authority at the first port he touches within the twenty-four hours following his arrival, and shall ratify it
within the same period when he arrives at the place of his destination, immediately preceding with the
proof of the facts, it not being permitted to open the hatches until this has been done.

The captain shall proceed in the same manner if, the vessel having been wrecked, he is saved
alone or with part of his crew, in which case he shall appear before the nearest authority, and make a
sworn statement of the facts.

The authority or the consul abroad shall verify the said facts, receiving a sworn statement of the
members of the crew and passengers who may have been saved, and taking the other steps which may
assist in arriving at the facts, drafting a certificate of the result of the proceedings in the log book and in
that of the sailing mate, and shall deliver the original records of the proceedings to the captain, stamped
and folioed, with a memorandum of the folios, which he must rubricate, for their presentation to the judge
or court of the port of destination.

The statement of the captain shall be believed if it is in accordance with those of the crew and
passengers; if they disagree, the latter shall be accepted, unless there is proof to the contrary.
ARTICLE 625. The captain, under his personal liability, as soon as he arrives at the port of
destination, obtains the necessary permission from the health and customs officers and fulfills the other
formalities required by the regulations of the administration, shall turn over the cargo, without any
defalcation, to the consignees, and, in a proper case, the vessel, rigging, and freights to the agent.
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If, by reason of the absence of the consignee or on account of the nonappearance of a legal
holder of the invoices, the captain does not know to whom he is to make the legal delivery of the cargo,
he shall place it at the disposal of the proper judge or court or authority, in order that he may decide with
regard to its deposit, preservation, and custody.

SECTION III
Officers and Crews of Vessels

ARTICLE 626. In order to be a sailing mate it shall be necessary:

1. To have the conditions required by the marine or navigation laws or regulations.

2. Not to be disqualified in accordance therewith for the discharge of the position.

ARTICLE 627. The sailing mate, as the second chief of the vessel and unless the agent
orders otherwise, shall take the place of the captain in cases of absence, sickness, or death, and shall
then assume all his powers, obligations, and responsibilities.

ARTICLE 628. The sailing mate must supply himself with charts of the waters which are to
be navigated, with the maps and quadrants or sextants which are in use and which are necessary for the
discharge of his duties, being liable for the accidents which may arise by reason of his fault in this
matter.

ARTICLE 629. The sailing mate shall personally and specially keep a book folioed and
stamped on all its pages, called the "binnacle book", with a memorandum at the beginning stating the
number of folios it contains, signed by the competent authority, and shall enter therein daily the distance
and course travelled, the variations of the needle, the leeway, the direction and force of the wind, the
condition of the atmosphere and of the sea, the rigging set, the latitude and longitude observed, the
number of furnaces fired, the steam pressure, the number of revolutions, and under the name of
"incidents" the revolutions made, the meetings with other vessels, and all the particulars and accidents
which may occur during the voyage.

ARTICLE 630. In order to change the course and to take the one most convenient for a good
voyage of the vessel, the sailing mate shall come to an agreement with the captain. If the latter should
object, the sailing mate shall make the remarks he may consider necessary in the presence of the other
officers of the vessel. If the captain should still insist on his objection, the sailing mate shall make the
proper protest, signed by him and by another one of the officers in the log book, and shall obey the
captain, who shall be the only one liable for the consequences of his order.

ARTICLE 631. The sailing mate shall be liable for all the damages suffered by the vessel and
cargo by reason of his negligence or want of skill, without prejudice to the criminal liability which may
arise, if a felony or misdemeanor were committed. aisadc

ARTICLE 632. It shall be the duty of the second mate:

1. To watch over the preservation of the hull, and rigging of the vessel, and to take
charge of the tackle and equipment which make up her outfit, suggesting to the
captain the repairs necessary and the replacement of the goods and implements
which are rendered useless and lost.

2. To take care that the cargo is well arranged, keeping the vessel always ready for
evolutions.

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3. To preserve order, discipline, and good service among the crew, requesting the
necessary orders and instructions of the captain, and quickly informing him of any
occurrence in which the intervention of his authority may be necessary.

4. To assign to each sailor the work he is to do on board, in accordance with the

instructions received, and see that it is exactly and carefully carried out.

5. To take charge by inventory of the rigging and all the equipments of the vessel, if it
should be laid up, unless the agent has ordered otherwise.

With regard to engineers the following rules shall govern:

1. In order to be taken on board as a marine engineer forming part of the complement

of a merchant vessel it shall be necessary to possess the qualifications which the
laws and regulations require, and not to be disqualified in accordance therewith to
hold said position. Engineers shall be considered as officers of the vessel, but they
shall exercise no command nor intervention except that which refers to the motive
power.

2. When there are two or more engineers on one vessel, one of them shall be the chief,
and the other engineers and all the personnel of the engines shall be under his
orders; he shall furthermore have the motive power under his charge, as well as the
spare pieces, instruments, and implements belonging thereto, the fuel, the
lubricating material and, finally, all which comes under the jurisdiction of an engineer
on board a vessel.

3. He shall keep the engines and boilers in good condition and in state of cleanliness,
and shall order what may be proper in order that they may always be ready for
regular use, being liable for the accidents or damages which may arise by reason of
his want of skill or negligence to the motive apparatus, or to the vessel and cargo,
without prejudice to the criminal liability which may be proper if a felony or
misdemeanor is proven.

4. He shall make no change in the motive apparatus, nor shall he repair the averages
he may have noticed in the same, nor change the normal speed of its movement
without the prior authority of the captain, to whom, if he should object to their being
made, he shall state the reasons he may deem proper in the presence of the other
engineers or officers; and if, notwithstanding this, the captain should insist on his
objection, the chief engineer shall make the proper protest, entering the same in the
engine book, and shall obey the captain, who shall be the only one liable for the
consequences of his order.

5. He shall inform the captain of any average which may occur to the motive apparatus,
and shall inform him when it may be necessary to stop the engines for some time, or
when any other incident occurs in his department of which the captain should be
immediately informed, frequently advising him furthermore of the consumption of fuel
and lubricating material.

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6. He shall keep a book or registry called the "Engine Book," in which there shall be
entered all the data that refer to the work of the engines, such as, for example, the
number of furnaces fired, the steam pressure in the boilers and cylinders, the
vacuum in the condenser, the temperatures, the degree of saturation of the water,
the consumption of fuel and lubricating material, and under the heading of
"Noteworthy occurrences" the average and imperfections which occur in the engines
and boilers, the causes therefor, and the means employed to repair the same. There
shall also be stated, taking the information from the binnacle book, and direction of
the wind, the rigging set, and the speed of the vessel.

ARTICLE 633. The second mate shall take command of the vessel in case of the
impossibility or disability of the captain and sailing mate, assuming in such case their powers and
liability.

ARTICLE 634. The captain may make up his crew with the number he may consider
advisable, and in the absence of Spanish [*] sailors he may ship foreigners residing in the country, the
number thereof not to exceed one-fifth of the total crew. If in foreign ports the captain should not find a
sufficient number of Spanish [*] sailors, he may make up the crew with foreigners, with the consent of
the consul or marine authorities.

The agreements which the captain may make with the members of the crew and others who go to
make up the complement of the vessels, to which reference is made in Article 612, must be reduced to
writing in the account book without the intervention of a notary public or clerk, signed by the parties
thereto, and vised by the marine authority if they are executed in Spanish [*] territory, or by the consuls
or consular agents of Spain [*] if executed abroad, stating therein all the obligations which each one
contracts and all the rights they acquire, said authorities taking care that these obligations and rights are
recorded in a concise and clear manner, which will not give rise to doubts or claims. cd

The captain shall take care to read to them the articles of this Code, which concern them, stating
that they were read in the said document.

If the book includes the requisites prescribed in Article 612, and there should not appear any
signs of alterations in its clauses, it shall be admitted as evidence in questions which may arise between
the captain and the crew with regard to the agreements contained therein and the amounts paid on
account of the same.
Every member of the crew may request a copy of the captain, signed by the latter, of the
agreement and of the liquidation of his wages, as they appear in the book.

ARTICLE 635. A sailor who has been contracted to serve on a vessel can not rescind his
contract nor fail to comply therewith except by reason of a legitimate impediment which may have
occurred.

Neither can he pass from the service of one vessel to another without obtaining the written
consent of the vessel on which he may be.

If, without obtaining said permission, the sailor who has signed for one vessel should sign for
another one, the second contract shall be void, and the captain may choose between forcing him to fulfill
the service to which he first bound himself or look for a person to substitute him at his expense.
Said sailor shall furthermore lose the wages earned on his first contract to the benefit of the
vessel for which he may have signed.

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A captain who, knowing that a sailor is in the service of another vessel, should have made a new
agreement with him, without having requested the permission referred to in the foregoing paragraphs,
shall be personally liable to the captain of the vessel to which the sailor first belonged for that part of the
indemnity, referred to in the third paragraph of this article, which the sailor could not pay.
ARTICLE 636. Should a fixed period for which a sailor has signed not be stated, he can not
be discharged until the end of the return voyage to the port where he enrolled.

ARTICLE 637. Neither can the captain discharge a sailor during the time of his contract
except for sufficient cause, the following being considered as such:

1. The perpetration of a crime which disturbs order on the vessel.

2. Repeated offenses of insubordination, against discipline, or against the fulfillment of

the service.

3. Repeated incapacity or negligence in the fulfillment of the service to be rendered.

4. Habitual drunkenness.

5. Any occurrence which incapacitates the sailor to carry out the work under his charge,
with the exception of the provisions contained in Article 644.

6. Desertion.

The captain may, however, before setting out on a voyage and without giving any reason
whatsoever, refuse to permit a sailor he may have engaged from going on board and may leave him on
land, in which case he will be obliged to pay him his wages as if he had rendered services.

This indemnity shall be paid from the funds of the vessel if the captain should have acted for
reasons of prudence and in the interest of the safety and good service of the former. Should this not be
the case, it shall be paid by the captain personally. aisadc

After the vessel has sailed, and during the voyage and until the conclusion thereof, the captain
can not abandon any member of his crew on land or on the sea, unless, by reason of being guilty of
some crime, his imprisonment and delivery to the competent authority is proper in the first port touched,
which will be obligatory on the captain.

ARTICLE 638. If, the crew having been engaged, the voyage is revoked by the will of the
agent or of the charterers before or after the vessel has put to sea or if the vessel is in the same manner
given a different destination than that fixed in the agreement with the crew, the latter shall be indemnified
because of the rescission of the contract according to the case, viz:

1. If the revocation of the voyage should be decided before the departure of the vessel
from the port, each sailor engaged shall be given one month's salary, besides what
may be due him in accordance with his contract, for the services rendered to the
vessel up to the date of the revocation.

2. If the agreement should have been for a fixed amount for the whole voyage, there
shall be graduated what may be due for said month and days, calculating the same
in proportion to the estimated duration of the voyage, in the judgment of experts, in
the manner established in the law of civil procedure; and if the proposed voyage

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should be of such short duration that it is calculated at one month more or less, the
indemnity shall be fixed for fifteen days, discounting in all cases the sums advanced.

3. If the revocation should take place after the vessel has put to sea, the sailors
engaged for a fixed amount for the voyage shall receive the salary which may have
been offered them in full as if the voyage had terminated, and those engaged by the
month shall receive the amount corresponding to the time they might have been on
board and to the time they may require to arrive at the port of destination, the captain
being obliged, furthermore, to pay said sailors the passage to the said port or to the
port of sailing of the vessel, as may be convenient for them.

4. If the agent or the charterers of the vessel should give said vessel a destination other
than that fixed in the agreement, and the members of the crew should not agree
thereto, they shall be given by way of indemnity half the amount fixed in case No. 1,
besides what may be owed them for the part of the monthly wages corresponding to
the days which have elapsed from the date of their agreements.

If they accept the change, and the voyage, on account of the greater distance or for other
reasons, should give rise to an increase of wages, the latter shall be privately regulated, or through
amicable arbitrators in case of disagreement. Even though the voyage may be to a nearer point, this
shall not give rise to a reduction in the wages agreed upon.
If the revocation or change of the voyage should originate from the shippers or charterers, the
agent shall have a right to demand of them the indemnity which is justly due.

ARTICLE 639. If the revocation of the voyage should arise from a just cause independent of
the will of the agent or charterers, and the vessel should not have left the port, the members of the crew
shall not have any other right than to receive the wages earned up to the day on which the revocation
took place.
ARTICLE 640. The following shall be just causes for the revocation of the voyage:

1. A declaration of war or interdiction of commerce with the power to whose territory the
vessel was bound.

2. The blockade of the port of destination or the breaking out of an epidemic after the
agreement.

3. The prohibition to receive in said port the goods which make up the cargo of the
vessel.

4. The detention or embargo of the same by order of the Government, or for any other
reason independent of the will of the agent.

5. The inability of the vessel to navigate. cdasia

ARTICLE 641. If, after a voyage has been begun, any of the first three causes mentioned in
the foregoing article should occur, the sailors shall be paid at the port the captain may deem it advisable
to make for the benefit of the vessel and cargo, according to the time they may have served thereon; but
if the vessel is to continue the voyage, the captain and the crew may mutually demand the enforcement
of the contract.

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In case of the occurrence of the fourth cause, the crew shall continue to be paid half wages, if the
agreement is by month but if the detention should exceed three months, the engagement shall be
rescinded and the crew shall be paid what they should have earned, according to the contract, if the
voyage had been made. And if the agreement had been made for a fixed sum for the voyage, the
contract must be complied within the terms agreed upon.

In the fifth case, the crew shall not have any other right than be entitled to recover the wages
earned; but if the disability of the vessel should have been caused by the negligence or lack of skill of
the captain, engineer, or sailing mate, they shall indemnify the crew for the loss suffered, always
reserving the criminal liability which may be proper.

ARTICLE 642. If the crew has been engaged to work on shares they shall not be entitled, by
reason of the revocation, delay, or greater extension of the voyage, to anything but the proportionate part
of the indemnity paid into the common funds of the vessel by the persons liable for said occurrences.

ARTICLE 643. If the vessel and her freight should be totally lost, by reason of capture or
wreck, all rights of the crew to demand any wages whatsoever shall be extinguished, as well as that of
the agent for the recovery of the advances made.

If a portion of the vessel or freight should be saved, or part of either, the crew engaged on wages,
including the captain, shall retain their rights on the salvage, so far as they go, on the remainder of the
vessel as well as value of the freightage or the cargo saved; but sailors who are engaged on shares
shall not have any right whatsoever to the salvage of the hull, but only on the portion of the freightage
saved. If they should have worked to collect the remainder of the ship-wrecked vessel, they shall be
given an award in proportion to the efforts made and to the risks encountered in order to accomplish the
salvage.
ARTICLE 644. A sailor who falls sick shall not lose his right to wages during the voyage,
unless the sickness is the result of his own fault. At any rate, the costs of the attendance and cure shall
be defrayed from the common funds, in the form of a loan.

If the sickness should be caused by an injury received in the service or defense of the vessel the
sailor shall be attended and cured from the common funds, there being deducted before anything else
from the proceeds of the freight, the cost of the attendance and cure.
ARTICLE 645. If a sailor should die during the voyage his heir shall be given the wages
earned and not received, according to his engagement and the reason for his death, namely —
If he should have died a natural death and should have been engaged on wages there shall be
paid what may have been earned up to the date of his death.

If the engagement had been made for a fixed sum for the whole voyage there shall be paid half
the amount earned if the sailor died on the voyage out, and the whole amount if he died on the return
voyage.

And if the engagement had been made on shares and the death should have occurred after the
voyage was begun, the heirs shall be paid the entire portion due the sailor; but should the latter have
died before the departure of the vessel from the port, the heirs shall not be entitled to claim anything.

If the death should have occurred in the defense of the vessel, the sailor shall be considered as
living, and his heirs shall be paid, at the end of the voyage, the full amount of wages or the full part of the
profits due him as to the others of his grade.

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The sailor shall likewise be considered as present in the event of his capture when defending the
vessel, in order to enjoy the same benefits as the rest; but should he have been captured on account of
carelessness or other accident not related to the service, he shall only receive the wages due up to the
day of his capture.

ARTICLE 646. The vessel with her engines, rigging, equipment, and freights shall be liable
for the wages earned by the crew engaged per month or for the trip, the liquidation and payment ought
to take place between one voyage and the other.

After a new voyage has been undertaken, credits such as the former shall lose their right of
preference.

ARTICLE 647. The officers and the crew of the vessel shall be exempted from all obligations
contracted, if they deem it proper, in the following cases:

1. If, before the beginning of the voyage, the captain attempts to change it, or there
occurs a naval war with the power to which the vessel was destined.

2. If a disease should break out and be officially declared epidemic in the port of
destination.

3. If the vessel should change owner or captain.

ARTICLE 648. By the complement of a vessel shall be understood all the persons embarked,
from the captain to the cabin boy, necessary for the management, evolutions, and service, and there
shall, therefore, be understood as included in the complement the crew, sailing mates, engineers,
stokers, and other persons not having a specific name; but there shall not be included the passengers
nor the persons the vessel is only transporting.

SECTION IV
Supercargoes
ARTICLE 649. Supercargoes shall discharge on board the vessel the administrative duties
which the agent or shippers may have assigned them; they shall keep an account and record of their
transactions in a book which shall have the same conditions and requisites as required for the
accounting book of the captain, and shall respect the latter in his duties as chief of the vessel. cdta

The powers and liabilities of the captain shall cease, when there is a supercargo, with regard to
that part of the administration legitimately conferred upon the latter, but shall continue in force for all acts
which are inseparable from his authority and office.

ARTICLE 650. All the provisions contained in the second section of Title III, Book II, with
regard to qualifications, manner of making contracts, and liabilities of factors shall be applicable to
supercargoes.

ARTICLE 651. Supercargoes can not, without special authorization or agreement, make any
transaction for their own account during the voyage, with the exception of the ventures which, in
accordance with the custom of the port of destination, they are permitted to do.

Neither shall they be permitted to invest in the return trip more than the profits from the ventures,
unless there is a special authorization thereto from the principals.

TITLE III

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Special Contracts of Maritime Commerce

SECTION I
Charter Parties
1. Forms and Effects of Charter Parties

ARTICLE 652. A charter party must be drawn in duplicate and signed by the contracting
parties, and when either does not know how or can not do so, by two witnesses at their request.

The charter party shall include, besides the conditions unrestrictedly stipulated, the following
statements:

1. The kind, name, and tonnage of the vessel.

2. Her flag and port of registry.

3. The name, surname, and domicile of the captain.

4. The name, surname, and domicile of the agent, if the latter should make the charter
party.

5. The name, surname, and domicile of the charterer, and if he states that he is acting
by commission, that of the person for whose account he makes the contract.

6. The port of loading and unloading.

7. The capacity, number of tons or weight, or measure which they respectively bind
themselves to load and transport, or whether it is the total cargo.

8. The freightage to be paid, stating whether it is to be a fixed amount for the voyage or
so much per month, or for the space to be occupied, or for the weight or measure of
the goods of which the cargo consists, or in any other manner whatsoever agreed
upon.

9. The amount of primage to be paid to the captain.

10. The days agreed upon for loading and unloading.

11. The lay days and extra lay days to be allowed and the rate of demurrage.

ARTICLE 653. If the freight should be received without the charter party having been signed,
the contract shall be understood as executed in accordance with what appears in the bill of lading, which
shall be the only instrument with regard to the freight to determine the rights and obligations of the
owner, of the captain, and of the charterer. cdt

ARTICLE 654. The charter parties executed with the intervention of a broker, who certifies to
the authenticity of the signatures of the contracting parties made in his presence, shall be full evidence in
court; and if said signatures should not agree the ones identical with the signatures the broker must keep
in his registry, if kept in accordance to law, shall be final.
The contracts shall also be admitted as evidence, even though a broker has not taken part
therein, if the contracting parties acknowledge the signatures to be the same as their own.

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Should no broker have taken part in the charter party and should the signatures not have been
acknowledged, doubts shall be decided by what is provided for in the bill of lading, and in the absence
thereof by the proofs submitted by the parties.

ARTICLE 655. Charter parties executed by the captain in the absence of the agent shall be
valid and efficient, even though in executing them he should have acted in violation of the orders and
instructions of the agent or shipowner; but the latter shall have a right of action against the captain to
recover damages.

ARTICLE 656. If in the charter party the time in which the loading and unloading is to take
place is not stated, the customs of the port where these acts take place shall be observed. After the
period stipulated or the customary one has passed, and should there not be in the freight contract an
express clause fixing the indemnification for the delay, the captain shall be entitled to demand
demurrage for the usual and extra lay days which may have elapsed in loading and unloading.
ARTICLE 657. If during the voyage the vessel should be rendered unseaworthy the captain
shall be obliged to charter another one at his expense, in good condition, to take the cargo to its
destination, for which purpose he shall be obliged to look for a vessel not only at the port of arrival but in
the other ports within a distance of 150 kilometers.

If the captain should not furnish a vessel to take the cargo to its destination, either through
indolence or malice, the freighters, after a demand of the captain to charter a vessel within an
unextendible period, may charter one and apply to the judicial authority requesting that the charter party
which may have been made be immediately approved.
The same authority shall judicially compel the captain to confirm the charter made by the
shippers for his account and under his responsibility.

If the captain, notwithstanding his efforts, should not find a vessel to charter, he shall deposit the
cargo at the disposal of the freighters, to whom he shall communicate the facts on the first opportunity
presenting itself, the charter being regulated in such cases by the distance covered by the vessel, there
being no right to any indemnification whatsoever.
ARTICLE 658. The freight shall be paid according to the conditions stipulated in the contract,
and should they not be specific, or should they be ambiguous, the following rules shall be observed:

1. If the vessel has been chartered by months or by days, the freight shall begin to run
from the day the loading of the vessel is begun.

2. In charters made for a fixed period, the freight shall begin from that very day.

3. If the freight is charged according to weight, the payment shall be made according to
gross weight, including the containers, such as barrels or any other objects
containing the cargo.

ARTICLE 659. The merchandise sold by the captain to pay for the necessary repairs to the
hull, machinery or equipment, or for unavoidable and urgent requirements, shall pay freight. cdt

The price of this merchandise shall be fixed according to the success of the voyage, namely:

1. If the vessel should arrive safely at the port of destination, the captain shall pay the
price which the sale of merchandise of the same kind brings at that port.

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2. If the vessel should be lost, the captain shall pay the price said merchandise would
have brought in the sale.

The same rule shall be observed in the payment of the freight which shall be in full if the vessel
arrives at her destination, and in proportion to the distance covered if she should be lost beforehand.

ARTICLE 660. Merchandise jettisoned for the common safety shall not pay freight; but its
value shall be considered as general average, and shall be computed in proportion to the distance
covered when it was jettisoned.

ARTICLE 661. Neither shall merchandise which was lost by reason of shipwreck or stranding
pay freight, nor that seized by pirates or enemies.

If the freight should have been paid in advance, it shall be returned, unless there was an
agreement to the contrary.

ARTICLE 662. If the vessel or the merchandise should be recovered, or should the goods of
the shipwreck be picked up, the freight corresponding to the distance covered by the vessel transporting
the cargo shall be paid; and should the vessel be repaired and transport said merchandise to the port of
destination, the full freight shall be paid, without prejudice to what may be due by reason of the average.

ARTICLE 663. Merchandise which is damaged or reduced on account of its own defects or
bad quality and condition of the packing, or by reason of an accidental case, shall pay full freight, and as
was stipulated in the charter party.
ARTICLE 664. The natural increase in weight or size of the merchandise loaded on the
vessel shall accrue to the benefit of the owner, and shall pay the proper freight fixed in the contract for
the same.

ARTICLE 665. The cargo shall be specially liable for the payment of the freight expenses,
and duties arising therefrom, which must be reimbursed by the shippers, as well as for the part of the
general average which may be due, but it shall not be legal for the captain to delay unloading on account
of delay in complying with this obligation.

Should there be reasons for distrust, the judge or court, at the instance of the captain, may order
the deposit of the merchandise until he has been paid in full.

ARTICLE 666. The captain may request the sale of the cargo to the amount necessary to
pay the freight, expenses, and averages due him, reserving the right to demand the balance due him
therefor if the proceeds of the sale should not have sufficed to cover his credit.
ARTICLE 667. The goods loaded shall be liable in the first place for their freight and
expenses during twenty days, to be counted from the date of their delivery or deposit. During this period,
the sale of the same may be requested, even though there be other creditors and the case of bankruptcy
of the freighter or consignee should occur.

This right can not be made use of, however, on the goods which after being delivered, were
turned over to a third person without malice on the part of the latter and for a valuable consideration. cdasia

ARTICLE 668. If the consignee should not be found or should refuse to receive the cargo,
the judge or court, at the instance of the captain, shall order its deposit and the sale of the merchandise
in so far as necessary to pay the freight and other expenses on the same.

The sale shall likewise take place when the goods deposited run the risk of deteriorating or by
reason of their condition or for other reasons the expenses of preservation and custody should be
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disproportionate to the value thereof.

2. Rights and Obligations of Owners

ARTICLE 669. The owners or the captain shall observe in charter parties the capacity of the
vessel or that expressly designated in the registry of the same, a difference greater than 2 per cent
between that stated and her true capacity not being permissible.

If the owners or the captain should contract to carry a greater amount of cargo than the vessel
can hold, in view of her tonnage, they shall indemnify the freighters whose contracts they do not fulfill for
the losses they may have caused them by reason of their default, according to the cases, viz:
If the vessel has been chartered by one freighter only, and there should appear to be an error or
fraud in her capacity, and the charterer should not wish to rescind the contract, when he has a right to do
so, the charter should be reduced in proportion to the cargo the vessel can not receive, the person from
whom the vessel is chartered being furthermore obliged to indemnify the charterer for the losses he may
have caused.

If, on the contrary, there should be several charter parties, and by reason of the want of space all
the cargo contracted for can not be received, and none of the charterers desires to rescind the contract,
preference shall be given to the person who has already loaded and arranged the freight in the vessel,
and the rest shall take the place corresponding to them in the order of the dates of their contracts.

Should there be no priority, the charterers may load, if they wish, pro rata of the amounts of
weight or space they may have engaged, and the person from whom the vessel was chartered shall be
obliged to indemnify them for the loss and damage.

ARTICLE 670. If the person from whom the vessel is chartered, after receiving a part of the
freight, should not find sufficient to make up at least three-fifths of the amount which the vessel can hold,
at the price he may have fixed, he may substitute for the transportation another vessel inspected and
declared suitable for the same voyage, the expenses of transfer being defrayed by him, as well as the
increase, should there be any, in the price of the charter. Should he not be able to make this change, the
voyage shall be undertaken at the time agreed upon; and should no time have been fixed, within fifteen
days from the time of beginning to load, should nothing to the contrary have been stipulated.

If the owner of the part of the freight already loaded should procure some more at the same price
and under similar or proportionate conditions to those accepted for the freight received, the person from
whom the vessel is chartered or the captain can not refuse to accept the rest of the cargo; and should he
do so, the freighter shall have a right to demand that the vessel put to sea with the cargo she may have
on board.

ARTICLE 671. After three-fifths of the vessel is loaded, the person from whom she is
chartered can not, without the consent of the charterers or freighters substitute the vessel designated in
the charter party by another one, under the penalty of making himself thereby liable for all the losses and
damages occurring during the voyage to the cargo of the person who did not consent to the change.
ARTICLE 672. If the vessel has been chartered in whole, the captain can not, without the
consent of the person chartering her, accept freight from any other person; and should he do so, said
charterer may oblige him to unload it and require him to indemnify him for the losses suffered thereby.

ARTICLE 673. The person from whom the vessel is chartered shall be liable for all the losses
caused the charterer by reason of the voluntary delay of the captain in putting to sea, according to the

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rules prescribed, provided he has been requested to put to sea at the proper time through a notary or
judicially.
ARTICLE 674. If the charterer should carry to the vessel more freight than that contracted
for, the excess may be admitted in accordance with the price stipulated in the contract, if it can be well
stowed without injuring the other freighters, but if in order to stow said freight it should be necessary to
stow it in such manner as to throw the vessel out of trim the captain must refuse it or unload it at the
expense of its owner.

The captain may likewise, before leaving the port, unload the merchandise placed on board
clandestinely, or transport it, if he can do so and keep the vessel in trim, demanding by way of freightage
the highest price which may have been stipulated for said voyage.
ARTICLE 675. If the vessel has been chartered to receive the cargo in another port, the
captain shall appear before the consignee designated in the charter party, and, should the latter not
deliver the cargo to him, he shall inform the charterer and await his instructions, and in the meantime the
lay days agreed upon shall begin to run, or those allowed by custom in the port, unless there is a special
agreement to the contrary.

Should the captain not receive an answer within the time necessary therefor, he shall make
efforts to find freight; and should he not find any after the lay days and extra lay days have elapsed, he
shall make a protest and return to the port where the charter was made.

The charterer shall pay the freightage in full, discounting that which may have been earned on
the merchandise which may have been carried on the voyage out or on the return trip, if carried for the
account of third persons.

The same shall be done if a vessel, having been chartered for the round trip, should not be given
any cargo for her return.

ARTICLE 676. The captain shall lose the freightage and shall indemnify the charterers if the
latter should prove, even against the certificate of inspection, should one have taken place at the port of
departure, that the vessel was not in a condition to navigate at the time of receiving the cargo.

ARTICLE 677. The charter party shall be enforced if the captain should not have any
instructions from the charterer, and a declaration of war or a blockade should take place during the
voyage.

In such case the captain shall be obliged to make the nearest safe and neutral port, and request
and await orders from the freighter; and the expenses incurred and salaries earned during the detention
shall be paid as general average.

If, by orders of the freighter, the cargo should be discharged at the port of arrival, the freight for
the voyage out shall be paid in full.
ARTICLE 678. If the time necessary, in the opinion of the judge or court, in which to receive
orders from the freighters should have elapsed without the captain having received any instructions, the
cargo shall be deposited, and it shall be liable for the payment of the freight and expenses incurred by
reason of the delay which shall be paid from the proceeds of the part first sold.

3. Obligations of Charterers

ARTICLE 679. The charterer of an entire vessel may subcharter the whole or part thereof for
the amounts he may consider most convenient, without the captain being allowed to refuse to receive on

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board the freight delivered by the second charterers, provided the conditions of the first charter are not
changed, and that the person from whom the vessel is chartered be paid the full price agreed upon even
though the full cargo is not embarked, with the limitation established in the next article. cdtai

ARTICLE 680. A charterer who does not make up the full cargo he bound himself to ship
shall pay the freightage of the amount he fails to ship, if the captain did not take other freight to make up
the cargo of the vessel, in which case he shall pay the first charterer the difference should there be any.

ARTICLE 681. If the charterer should ship goods different from those indicated at the time of
executing the charter party, without the knowledge of the person from whom the vessel was chartered or
of the captain, and should thereby give rise to losses, by reason of confiscation, embargo, detention, or
other causes, to the person from whom the vessel was chartered or to the shippers, the person giving
rise thereto shall be liable with the value of his shipment and furthermore with his property, for the full
indemnity to all those injured through his fault.

ARTICLE 682. If the merchandise shipped should have been for the purpose of illicit
commerce, and was taken on board with the knowledge of the person from whom the vessel was
chartered or of the captain, the latter, jointly with the owner of the same, shall be liable for all the losses
which may be caused the other shippers, and even though it may have been agreed, they can not
demand any indemnity whatsoever of the charterer for the damage caused the vessel.

ARTICLE 683. In case of making a port to repair the hull, machinery, or equipment of the
vessel, the freighters must wait until the vessel is repaired, being permitted to unload her at their own
expense should they deem it advisable.

If, for the benefit of the cargo subject to deterioration, the freighters or the court, or the consul, or
the competent authority in a foreign land should order the merchandise to be unloaded, the expenses of
loading and unloading shall be for the account of the former.

ARTICLE 684. If the charterer, without the occurrence of any of the cases of force majeure
mentioned in the foregoing article, should wish to unload his merchandise before arriving at the port of
destination, he shall pay the full freight, the expenses of the stop made at his request, and the losses
and damages caused the other freighters, should there be any.

ARTICLE 685. In charters for transportation of general freight any of the freighters may
unload the merchandise before the beginning of the voyage, by paying one-half the freight, the expense
of stowing and restowing the cargo, and any other damage which may be caused the other shippers.

ARTICLE 686. After the vessel has been unloaded and the cargo placed at the disposal of
the consignee, the latter must immediately pay the captain the freight due and the other expenses to
which he may be liable for said cargo.

The primage must be paid in the same proportion and at the same time as the freight, all the
changes and modifications to which the latter should be subject also governing the former.

ARTICLE 687. The charters and freighters can not abandon merchandise damaged on
account of the inherent vice of the goods or by reason of an accidental case, for the payment of the
freight and other expenses. aisadc

The abandonment shall be proper, however, if the cargo should consist of liquids and should they
have leaked out, there not remaining in the containers more than one-quarter of their contents.
4. Total or Partial Rescissions of Charter Parties

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ARTICLE 688. A charter party may be annulled at the request of the charterer:

1. If before loading the vessel he should abandon the charter, paying half of the
freightage agreed upon.

2. If the capacity of the vessel should not agree with that stated in the certificate of the
tonnage, or if there is an error in the statement of the flag under which she sails.

3. If the vessel should not be placed at the disposal of the charterer within the period
and in the manner agreed upon.

4. If, after the vessel has put to sea, she should return to the port of departure, on
account of risk of pirates, enemies, or bad weather, and the freighters should agree
to unload her.

In the second and third cases the person from whom the vessel was chartered shall indemnify
the charterer for the losses he may suffer.
In the fourth case the person from whom the vessel was chartered shall have a right to the
freightage in full for the voyage out.

If the charter should have been made by the months, the charterers shall pay the full freightage
for one month, if the voyage were to a port in the same waters, and two months, if the voyage were to a
port in different waters.

From one port to another of the Peninsula and adjacent islands, the freightage for one month
only shall be paid.

5. If a vessel should make a port during the voyage in order to make urgent repairs and
the freighters should prefer to dispose of the merchandise.

When the delay does not exceed thirty days, the freighters shall pay the full freight for the voyage
out.

Should the delay exceed thirty days, they shall only pay the freight in proportion to the distance
covered by the vessel.

ARTICLE 689. At the request of the person from whom the vessel is chartered the charter
party may be rescinded:

1. If the charterer at the termination of the extra lay days does not place the cargo alongside
the vessel.

In such case the charterer must pay half the freight stipulated besides the demurrage for the lay
days and extra lay days elapsed.

2. If the person from whom the vessel was chartered should sell her before the charterer has
begun to load her and the purchaser should load her for his own account.

In such case the vendor shall indemnify the charterer for the losses he may suffer.

If the new owner of the vessel should not load her for his own account the charter party shall be
respected, and the vendor shall indemnify the purchaser if the former did not inform him of the charter
pending at the time of making the sale.

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ARTICLE 690. The charter party shall be rescinded and all action arising therefrom shall be
extinguished if, before the vessel puts to sea from the port of departure, any of the following cases
should occur:

1. A declaration of war or interdiction of commerce with the power to whose ports the
vessel was going to sail.

2. A condition of blockade of the port of destination of said vessel, or the breaking out of
an epidemic after the contract was executed.

3. The prohibition to receive the merchandise of the vessel at the said port.

4. An indefinite detention, by reason of an embargo of the vessel by order of the

government or for any other reason independent of the will of the agent.

5. The impossibility of the vessel to navigate, without fault of the captain or agent.

The unloading shall be made for the account of the charterer.

ARTICLE 691. If the vessel can not put to sea on account of the closing of the port of
departure, or any other temporary cause, the charter shall be in force without any of the contracting
parties having a right to claim damages.

The subsistence and wages of the crew shall be considered as general average.

During the interruption the charterer may, at the proper time and for his own account, unload and
load the merchandise, paying demurrage if the reloading should continue after the reason for the
detention has ceased.

ARTICLE 692. A charter party shall be partially rescinded, unless there is an agreement to
the contrary, and the captain shall only be entitled to the freight for the voyage out, if, by reason of a
declaration of war, closing of ports, or interdiction of commercial relations during the voyage, the vessel
should make the port designated for such a case in the instructions of the charterer.

5. Passengers on Sea Voyages

ARTICLE 693. Should the passage price not have been agreed upon, the judge or court
shall summarily fix it, after a statement of experts.

ARTICLE 694. Should the passenger not arrive on board at the time fixed, or should leave
the vessel without permission from the captain, when the latter is ready to leave the port, the captain
may continue the voyage and demand the full passage price.

ARTICLE 695. The right to passage, if issued to a specified person, can not be transferred
without the consent of the captain or of the consignee.

ARTICLE 696. If before beginning the voyage the passenger should die, his heirs shall only
be obliged to pay half of the passage agreed upon.

If there should be understood in the price stipulated the expenses of subsistence, the judge, or
court, hearing experts if he considers it necessary, shall fix the amount to be paid the vessel.

Should another passenger be received in the place of the deceased, nothing shall be paid by
said heirs.

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ARTICLE 697. If before beginning the voyage it should be suspended through the sole fault
of the captain or agent, the passengers shall be entitled to have their passage refunded and to recover
for losses and damages; but if the suspension was due to an accidental cause, or to force majeure, or to
any other cause beyond the control of the captain or agent, the passengers shall only be entitled to the
return of the passage money. cd

ARTICLE 698. In case a voyage already begun should be interrupted the passengers shall
be obliged only to pay the passage in proportion to the distance covered, and shall not be entitled to
recover for losses and damages if the interruption is due to an accidental cause or to force majeure, but
have a right to indemnity if the interruption should have been caused by the captain exclusively. If the
interruption should be by reason of the disability of the vessel, and the passenger should agree to await
her repair, he can not be required to pay any increased price of passage, but his living expenses during
the delay shall be for his own account.
In case the departure of the vessel is delayed the passengers have a right to remain on board
and to be furnished with food for the account of the vessel, unless the delay is due to an accidental
cause or to force majeure. If the delay should exceed ten days, the passengers who request it shall be
entitled to the return of the passage; and if it were due exclusively to the captain or agent they may
furthermore demand indemnity for losses and damages.

A vessel which is exclusively destined to the transportation of passengers must take them directly
to the port or ports of destination, no matter what the number of passengers may be, making all the
stops indicated in her itinerary.
ARTICLE 699. After the contract has been rescinded, before or after the commencement of
the voyage, the captain shall have a right to claim payment for what he may have furnished the
passengers.

ARTICLE 700. In all that relates to the preservation of order and police on board the vessel
the passengers shall conform to the orders given by the captain, without any distinction whatsoever.

ARTICLE 701. The convenience or the interest of the passengers shall not obligate nor
empower the captain to stand in shore or enter places which may take the vessel out of her course, nor
to remain in the ports he must or is under the necessity of touching for a period longer than that required
for the business of the navigation.

ARTICLE 702. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, it shall be understood that the
maintenance of the passengers during the voyage is included in the price of the passage; but should
said maintenance be for the account of the latter, the captain shall be under the obligation, in case of
necessity, to furnish them the victuals at a reasonable price necessary for their maintenance.

ARTICLE 703. A passenger shall be looked upon as a shipper in so far as the goods he
carries on board are concerned, and the captain shall not be liable for what said passenger may
preserve under his immediate and special custody unless the damage arises from an act of the captain
or of the crew.

ARTICLE 704. The captain, in order to collect the price of the passage and expenses of
maintenance, may retain the goods belonging to the passenger, and in case of the sale of the same he
shall be given preference over the other creditors, acting in the same way as in the collection of freight.
ARTICLE 705. In case of the death of a passenger during the voyage the captain is
authorized, with regard to the body, to take the steps required by the circumstances, and shall carefully

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take care of the papers and goods there may be on board belonging to the passenger, observing the
provisions of Case No. 10 of Article 612 with regard to members of the crew.

6. Bills of Lading

ARTICLE 706. The captain and the freighter of the vessel are obliged to draft the bill of
lading, in which there shall be stated:

1. The name, registry, and tonnage of the vessel.

2. The name of the captain and his domicile.

3. The port of loading and that of unloading.

4. The name of the shipper.

5. The name of the consignee, if the bill of lading is issued to order.

6. The quantity, quality, number of packages, and marks of the merchandise.

7. The freight and the primage stipulated.

The bill of lading may be issued to bearer, to order, or in the name of a specific person, and must
be signed within twenty-four hours after the cargo has been received on board, the freighter being able
to request the unloading thereof at the expense of the captain should he not sign it, and in every case
indemnity for the losses and damages suffered thereby. cdasia

ARTICLE 707. Four true copies of the original bill of lading shall be made, all of which shall
be signed by the captain and by the freighter. Of these copies the freighter shall keep one and send
another to the consignee; the captain shall take two, one for himself and another for the agent.

There may, furthermore, be made as many copies of the bill of lading as may be considered
necessary by the persons interested; but when they are issued to order or to the bearer there shall be
stated in all the copies, be they either of the first four or of the subsequent ones, the destination of each
one, stating whether it is for the agent, for the captain, for the freighter, or for the consignee. If the copy
sent to the latter should be duplicated there must be stated in said duplicate this fact, and that it is not
valid except in case of the loss of the first one.

ARTICLE 708. The bills of lading issued to the bearer sent to the consignee shall be
transferable by the actual delivery of the instrument; and by virtue of an indorsement, those issued to
order.
In either case, the person to whom the bill of lading is transferred shall acquire all the rights and
actions of the assignor or indorser with regard to the merchandise mentioned in the same.

ARTICLE 709. A bill of lading drawn up in accordance with the provisions of this title shall be
proof as between all those interested in the cargo and between the latter and the underwriters, proof to
the contrary being reserved by the latter.

ARTICLE 710. Should the bills of lading not agree, and there should not be observed any
correction or erasure in any of them, those possessed by the freighter or consignee signed by the
captain shall be proof against the captain or agent in favor of the consignee or freighter; and those
possessed by the captain or agent signed by the freighter shall be proof against the freighter or
consignee in favor of the captain or agent.

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ARTICLE 711. The legitimate holder of a bill of lading who does not present it to the captain
of the vessel before her unloading, obliging the latter thereby to unload it and place it in deposit, shall be
liable for the cost of warehousing and other expenses arising therefrom.

ARTICLE 712. The captain can not himself change the destination of merchandise. In
admitting this change at the instance of the freighter, he must first take up the bills of lading he may have
issued, under the penalty of being liable for the cargo to the legitimate holder of the same.

ARTICLE 713. If before delivering the cargo a new bill of lading should be demanded of the
captain, it being alleged that the previous ones are not presented on account of their loss or for any
other sufficient cause, he shall be obliged to issue it, provided security for the value of the cargo is given
to his satisfaction; but without changing the consignment and stating therein the circumstances
prescribed in the last paragraph of Article 707, when the bills of lading referred to therein are in question,
under the penalty otherwise to be liable for said cargo if not properly delivered through his fault.

ARTICLE 714. If before the vessel puts to sea the captain should die or should discontinue in his
position through any accident, the freighters shall have a right to demand of the new captain the ratification
of the first bills of lading, and the latter must do so, provided all the copies previously issued be presented or
returned to him, and it should appear from an examination of the cargo that they are correct.

The expenses arising from the examination of the cargo shall be defrayed by the agent, without
prejudice to the right of action of the latter against the first captain, if he ceased to be such through his
own fault. Should said examination not be made, it shall be understood that the new captain accepts the
cargo as it appears from the bills of lading issued.

ARTICLE 715. Bills of lading will give rise to a most summary action or to judicial
compulsion, according to the case, for the delivery of the cargo and the payment of the freightage and
proper expenses.

ARTICLE 716. If several persons should present bills of lading issued to bearer or to order,
indorsed in their favor, demanding the same merchandise, the captain shall prefer in delivering the
same, the person presenting the copy first issued, with the exception of the case when the latter one
was issued on account of the loss of the first one, and if they are held by different persons.

In such case, as well as when only second or subsequent copies issued without this proof are
presented, the captain shall apply to the judge or court, so that he may order the deposit of the
merchandise, and that through him it may be delivered to the proper person.
ARTICLE 717. The delivery of the bill of lading shall effect the cancellation of all the
provisional receipts of prior date given by the captain or his subalterns for partial deliveries of the cargo
which may have been made.

ARTICLE 718. After the cargo has been delivered, the bills of lading which the captain
signed shall be returned to him, or at least the copy by reason of which the delivery is made, with the
receipt for the merchandise mentioned therein.
The delay on the part of the consignee shall make him liable for the damages which may be
caused the captain thereby.

SECTION II
Loans on Bottomry and Respondentia

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ARTICLE 719. A loan on bottomry or respondentia shall be considered that which the
repayment of the sum loaned and the premium stipulated, under any condition whatsoever, depends on
the safe arrival in port of the goods on which it is made, or of their value in case of accident.

ARTICLE 720. Loans on bottomry or respondentia may be executed:

1. By means of a public instrument.

2. By means of a bond signed by the contracting parties and the broker who took part
therein. cdt

3. By means of a private instrument.

Under whichever of these forms the contract is executed, it shall be entered in the certificate of
the registry of the vessel and shall be recorded in the commercial registry, without which requisites the
credits originating from the same shall not have, with regard to other credits, the preference which,
according to their nature, they should have, although the obligation shall be valid between the
contracting parties.

The contracts made during a voyage shall be governed by the provisions of Articles 583 and 611,
and shall be effective with regard to third persons from the date of their execution, if they should be
recorded in the commercial registry of the port of registry of the vessel before eight days have elapsed
from the date of her arrival. If said eight days should elapse without the record having been made in the
commercial registry, the contracts made during the voyage of a vessel shall not have any effect with
regard to third persons, except from the day and date of their entry.

In order that the bonds of the contracts celebrated in accordance with No. 2 may have legal
force, they must conform to the registry of the broker who took part therein. In those celebrated in
accordance with No. 3 the acknowledgment of the signature must precede.

Contracts which are not reduced to writing shall not be the basis for a judicial action.

ARTICLE 721. In a bottomry or respondentia bond there must be stated:

1. The kind, name, and registry of the vessel.

2. The name, surname, and domicile of the captain.

3. The names, surnames, and domicile of the person giving and of the person receiving
the loan.

4. The amount of the loan and the premium stipulated.

5. The time for repayment.

6. The goods pledged to secure repayment.

7. The voyage for which the risk is run.

ARTICLE 722. The bonds may be issued to order, in which case they shall be transferable
by indorsement, and the assignee shall acquire all the rights and run all the risks corresponding to the
indorser.

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ARTICLE 723. Loans may be made in goods and in merchandise, their value being fixed in
order to determine the amount of the loan.
ARTICLE 724. The loans may be constituted jointly or separately:

1. On the hull of the vessel.

2. On the rigging.

3. On the equipment, provisions, and fuel.

4. On the engine, if the vessel is a steamer.

5. On the cargo.

If the loan is constituted on the hull of the vessel, there shall be understood as also subject to the
liability of the loan, the rigging, equipment and other goods, provisions, fuel, steam engines, and the
freight earned during the voyage subject to the loan. cdta

If the loan is made on the cargo, all that constitutes the same shall be subject to the repayment;
and if on a particular object of the vessel or of the cargo, the object exclusively and specifically
mentioned only shall be liable.
ARTICLE 725. No loans can be made on the salaries of the crew, nor on the profits which it
is expected to earn.

ARTICLE 726. If the lender should prove that he loaned a larger amount than the value of
the article liable for the bottomry loan, by reason of fraudulent measures employed by the borrower the
loan shall only be valid for the amount at which said object is appraised by experts.

The surplus principal shall be returned with legal interest for the whole period of the duration of
the disbursement.

ARTICLE 727. If the full amount of the loan contracted to load the vessel should not be made
use of for the cargo, the surplus shall be returned before clearing.

The same procedure shall be observed with regard to the goods taken as a loan if they could not
all have been loaded.

ARTICLE 728. The loan which the captain takes at the point of residence of the owners of
the vessel shall only affect that part of the latter which belongs to the captain, if the other owners or their
agents should not have given their express authorization thereto or should not have taken part in the
transaction.

If one or more of the owners should be requested to furnish the amount necessary to repair or
provision the vessel, and should not do so within twenty-four hours, the interest which the parties in
default may have in the vessel shall be liable for the loan in the proper proportion.

Outside of the residence of the owners the captain may contract loans in accordance with the
provisions of Articles 583 and 611.

ARTICLE 729. Should the goods on which money is taken not be subjected to any risk, the
contract shall be considered an ordinary loan, the borrower being under the obligation to return the
principal and interest at the legal rate, if the interest stipulated should not have been lower.

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ARTICLE 730. Loans made during the voyage shall have preference over those made before
the clearing of the vessel, and they shall be graduated by the inverse order to that of their dates.
The loans for the last voyage shall have preference over prior ones.

Should several loans have been made at a port made under stress and for the same purpose, all
of them shall be paid pro rata.

ARTICLE 731. The actions which may be brought by the lender shall be extinguished by the
absolute loss of the goods on which the loan was made, if said loss arose from an accident of the sea at
the time and during the voyage designated in the contract, and should it be proven that the cargo was on
board; but this shall not take place if the loss were caused by the inherent defect of the thing or through
the fault or malice of the borrower, or through barratry on the part of the captain, or if it were caused by
damages suffered by the vessel as a consequence of being engaged in contraband, or if it arose through
loading the merchandise on a vessel other than that designated in the contract, unless this change
should have been made by reason of force majeure.

The proof of the loss is incumbent upon the person who received the loan, as well as the proof of
the existence in the vessel of the goods declared to the lender as the object thereof.

ARTICLE 732. Lenders on bottomry or respondentia shall suffer in proportion to their

respective interest, the general average which may take place in the goods on which the loan was made.

In particular averages, in the absence of an express agreement between the contracting parties,
the lender on bottomry or respondentia shall also contribute in proportion to his respective interest,
should it not belong to the kind of risks excepted in the foregoing article.
ARTICLE 733. Should it not have been stated in the contract for what period the lender runs
the risk, the said risk shall last with regard to the vessel, engines, rigging, and equipment from the
moment said vessel puts to sea until she drops anchor in the port of destination, and with regard to the
merchandise, from the time it is loaded on the shore or wharf of the port of shipment until unloaded in
the port of consignment. aisadc

ARTICLE 734. In case of shipwreck the amount liable for the return of the loan shall be
reduced to the proceeds of the goods saved, after the costs of the salvage have been deducted.

If the loan were on the vessel or any of her parts, the freightage earned during the voyage for
which said loan was contracted shall also be liable for its payment, as far as it is available.

ARTICLE 735. If the same vessel or cargo should be the object of a loan on bottomry or
respondentia and marine insurance, the value of what may be saved shall be divided, in case of
shipwreck, between the lender and the underwriter, in proportion to the legitimate interest of each one,
taking into consideration, for this purpose only, the principal with relation to the loan, and without
prejudice to the right of preference of other creditors in accordance with Article 580.

ARTICLE 736. If there should be delay in the repayment of the principal or premiums of the
loan, the former only shall bear legal interest.

SECTION III
Marine Insurance
1. Form of Contract

ARTICLE 737. In order that a marine insurance contract be valid, it must be reduced to
writing in a policy signed by the contracting parties.

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This policy shall be drafted and signed in duplicate, one copy being kept by each of the
contracting parties.

ARTICLE 738. The policy of the insurance contract shall contain, besides the conditions
unrestrictedly established by the persons interested, the following requisites:

1. Date of the contract, stating the time it is consummated.

2. Names, surnames, and domiciles of the underwriter and of the insured.

3. Capacity in which the insured acts, stating whether for himself or for the account of
another.

In the latter case the name, surname, and domicile of the person in whose name he
takes out the insurance.

4. Name, port, flag, and registry of the vessel insured, or of the vessel carrying the
goods insured.

5. Name, surname, and domicile of the captain.

6. Port or roadstead where the merchandise insured has been or is to be loaded.

7. Port whence the vessel left or is to leave.

8. Ports or roadsteads where the vessel is to load, unload, or stop for any reason
whatsoever.

9. Nature and kind of the goods insured.

10. Number of bales or packages, of whatsoever claim, and their marks, should they
have any.

11. Time of the beginning and conclusion of the risk.

12. Amount insured.

13. Price agreed upon for the insurance, and place, time, and manner of payment
thereof.

14. Amount of the premium corresponding to the voyage out, and amount to the return
voyage, if the insurance were for the round trip.

15. Obligation of the underwriter to pay the damage caused to the goods insured.

16. The place, period, and manner in which payment is to be made.

ARTICLE 739. Insurance contracts and policies authorized by consular agents aboard, if the
contracting parties or any of them should be Spaniards, shall have the same legal value as though they
were drafted with the intervention of a broker. aLtoam

ARTICLE 740. There may be included in the same contract and policy the insurance of the
vessel and that of the cargo fixing the value of either and mentioning the amount of insurance on each

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object, without which statement the insurance shall be null.

Different premiums for each article insured may be fixed in the policy.

Several underwriters may sign the same policy.

ARTICLE 741. In the insurance of merchandise the specific declaration of the same may be
omitted, as well as of the vessel to carry it, when these details are not known by the insured.

If the vessel in such case should suffer an accident on the seas, the insured shall be under the
obligation to prove, besides the loss of the vessel, her departure from the port of loading, the shipment
for his account of the goods insured, and the value thereof, to demand indemnity.
ARTICLE 742. The insurance policies may be issued to the order of the insured, in which
case they shall be negotiable.
2. Goods Which Can Be Insured and Their Appraisement

ARTICLE 743. The following can be the subject of marine insurance:

1. The hull of a vessel in ballast or loaded, in a port or on a voyage.

2. The rigging.

3. The engine, should the vessel be a steamer.

4. All the equipment and articles which constitute the fittings.

5. Provisions and fuel.

6. The amounts secured on bottomry or respondentia.

7. The amount of the freights and the probable profit.

8. All the commercial goods subject to the risk of navigation the value of which can be
specifically fixed.

ARTICLE 744. All or a part of the goods mentioned in the foregoing article may be insured
jointly or separately, in time of peace or during war, for a voyage or for a definite time, for a single
voyage or for a round trip, on good or bad advices.
ARTICLE 745. If it should be generally stated in the policy that the insurance is taken on the
vessel, there shall be understood therein the engines, rigging, equipment, and all that belongs to the
vessel; but her cargo shall not be included even though it belongs to the shipowner.

In a general insurance of merchandise, there shall not be included therein coined metals, or
metals in ingots, precious stones, nor munitions of war.

ARTICLE 746. The insurance of the freight may be taken by the shipper, by the ship owner,
or by the captain, but the latter can not insure the advance they may have received on account of their
freight unless they have expressly stipulated that, in case the freight is not earned by reason of
shipwreck or loss of the cargo, they shall return the amount received.

ARTICLE 747. In freight insurance the amount thereof must be stated, which can not exceed
the amount appearing in the agreement.

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ARTICLE 748. The insurance of profits shall be governed by the stipulations agreed to by the
contracting parties, but there shall be stated in the policy:

1. The specific amount at which the insurer fixes the profit, after the cargo has arrived
safely and been sold at the port of destination.

2. The obligation of reducing the insurance if, comparing the amount obtained at the
sale, after discounting the expenses and freights, with the purchase price, it should
appear less than that fixed in the insurance.

ARTICLE 749. The underwriter may have the goods insured by him reinsured by others, in
whole or in part, with the same or with a different premium. The insured may likewise insure the cost of
the insurance and the risk he may run in collecting the insurance from the first underwriter.
ARTICLE 750. If the captain should take out the insurance, or the owner of the goods
insured should be on the same vessel which carries them, 10 per cent shall always be left to his risk
should there be no agreement to the contrary.

ARTICLE 751. In the insurance of a vessel there shall always be understood that the
insurance only covers four-fifths of her value, and that the insured runs the risk for the remaining fifth,
unless an express agreement to the contrary is included in the policy.
In such case, and in that of the foregoing article, there shall be discounted from the insurance the
amount of the loans taken on bottomry or respondentia.
ARTICLE 752. The signing of the policy shall constitute a legal presumption that the
underwriters accepted the appraisement made therein of the goods insured as correct, excepting cases
of malice or fraud.

If the appraisement should appear to be exaggerated, the proceedings shall be according to the
cases, viz:

1. If the exaggeration should have arisen from error, and not from malice imputable to
the insured, the insurance shall be reduced to its true value, fixed by the contracting
parties by common consent, or through an expert opinion. The insurer shall return
the excess of the premium received, retaining, however, one-half per cent of said
excess.

2. If the exaggeration should have been fraudulent on the part of the insured, and the
underwriter proves it, the insurance shall be null for the insured, and the underwriter
shall gain the premium without prejudice to the criminal action which he may bring.

ARTICLE 753. Reduction to the value of the national currency, if the value were fixed in
foreign money, shall be made at the current rate at the place and on the day on which the policy was
signed.

ARTICLE 754. If, at the time of making the contract, the value of the goods insured has not
been specifically fixed, it shall be determined:

1. By the invoices of consignment.

2. By a statement of brokers or experts, who shall act, taking as a basis of their

judgment the price of the goods in the port of departure, adding thereto the
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expenses of shipment, freight, and customs.

If the insurance is on goods returning from a country where commerce is only exchange, the
value shall be fixed according to that of the goods exchanged in the port of departure, with all the
expenses.
3. Obligations of the Underwriter and of the Insured

ARTICLE 755. The underwriters shall indemnify the loss and damage which the articles
insured may suffer for any of the following causes:

1. Stranding or embayment of the vessel, with or without breakage.

2. Gales.

3. Shipwreck.

4. Accidental collision.

5. Change of course during the voyage of the vessel.

6. Jettison.

7. Fire or explosion, if it occurs in merchandise, whether on board or on land, provided

it has been removed by order of a competent authority to repair the vessel or to
benefit the cargo, or, fire by reason of spontaneous combustion in the coal bunkers
of the vessel.

8. Capture.

9. Spoliation.

10. Declaration of war.

11. Embargo by order of the government.

12. Retention by order of a foreign power.

13. Reprisals.

14. Any other accidents of the sea or risks.

The contracting parties may stipulate the exceptions they may deem proper, mentioning them in
the policy, without which requisite they shall have no effect.
ARTICLE 756. The underwriters shall not be liable for the loss and damage suffered by
goods insured by reason of any of the following causes, unless they have been excluded in the policy:

1. Voluntary change in the voyage or in the vessel, without the express consent of the
underwriters.

2. Voluntary separation from a convoy, when it was stipulated that she would travel with
one.

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3. Extension of the voyage to a port farther off than that designated in the insurance.

4. Arbitrary provisions and contrary to the charter party or to the bill of lading, adopted
by order of the shipowner, freighters or charterers.

5. Barratry on the part of the master, unless it is the object of insurance.

6. Waste, leakage, and expenses arising from the nature of the goods insured.

7. Absence of the instruments prescribed in this Code, in the marine ordinances and
regulations, or those of navigation, or omissions of any other class whatsoever on
the part of the captain, in contravention to administrative provisions, unless the
barratry of the master should have been taken for the account of the underwriter.

In any of these cases the underwriters shall collect the premium, provided they began to run the
risk.

ARTICLE 757. In the insurance of cargo taken for a round trip, if the insured should not find
any freight for the return voyage or should only be able to get less than two-thirds the return premium
shall be reduced in proportion to the cargo brought, the underwriter being furthermore granted one-half
per cent for the part he does not carry.

However, no reduction shall be allowed if the cargo was lost on the voyage out, unless there is a
special agreement modifying the provisions of this article.

ARTICLE 758. If the cargo should have been insured by several underwriters for different
amounts, but without specifically mentioning the objects of the insurance, indemnification shall be paid,
in case of loss or damage, by all the underwriters in proportion to the amount insured by each one.
ARTICLE 759. If different vessels should be designated to carry the goods insured, but
without stating the amount to be shipped on each vessel, the insured may distribute the cargo as may be
most convenient for him, or ship it on one vessel, only, the liability of the underwriter not being annulled
thereby. But if express mention should have been made of the amount insured on each vessel, and the
cargo should be put on board in different amounts to those fixed for each one, the underwriter shall not
have any further liability than that he may have contracted for each vessel. However, he shall charge
one-half per cent of the excess over the amount stipulated which may have been loaded thereon.

If a vessel should be left without any cargo, the insurance with regard to the same shall be
understood as annulled by means of the aforementioned payment of one-half per cent on the excess
shipped by the other ones.

ARTICLE 760. If by reason of the disability of the vessel before leaving the port, the cargo
should be transferred to another one, the underwriters shall be allowed to choose between continuing or
annulling the contract and paying the damages which may have occurred; but if the disability should take
place after the beginning of the voyage, the underwriters shall run the risk, even though the vessel
should have a different tonnage and flag than that designated in the policy.

ARTICLE 761. If the time during which the risks are to run for the account of the underwriter
is not fixed in the policy, the provisions of Article 733 with regard to loans on bottomry and respondentia
shall be observed.
ARTICLE 762. In insurance for a fixed period, the liability of the underwriter shall cease at
the time the period fixed expires.

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ARTICLE 763. If for the convenience of the insured the merchandise should be unloaded at
a port closer than that designated as the destination of the voyage, the underwriter shall collect the
premium stipulated without any reduction.

ARTICLE 764. There shall be understood as included in the insurance, if not expressly
excluded in the policy, the stopping places which it is required to make for the preservation of the
vessels or of her cargo.
ARTICLE 765. The insured shall communicate to the underwriter by the first mail following
that by which he receives them, and by telegraph, should there be one, the notices referring to the
course of the navigation of the vessel insured, and the damages or losses suffered by the goods
insured, and shall answer for the losses and damages which may arise through his omission.

ARTICLE 766. If merchandise insured for the account of the certain who commands the
vessel on which it was loaded should be lost, the former must prove its purchase to the underwriters by
means of the invoices of the vendors; and the shipment and transportation on the vessel, by means of a
certificate of the Spanish consul, or competent authority, where there is one, of the port where it was
loaded, and by means of the other documents of entry and clearance of the custom-houses.

The insured who carry their own merchandise shall have the same obligations, unless there is an
agreement to the contrary.

ARTICLE 767. If an increase in the premium in case of war should have been stipulated, and
said increase should not have been fixed, the latter shall be determined in the absence of agreement
between the parties interested by experts appointed in the manner established in the law of civil
procedure, taking the circumstances of the insurance and the risks run into considerations.

ARTICLE 768. The gratuitous restitution of the vessel or of the cargo to the captain by the
captures shall redound to the benefit of the respective owners without the obligation on the part of the
underwriters to pay the amounts they insured.

ARTICLE 769. All claims arising from insurance contracts must be accompanied with the
documents proving:

1. The voyage of the vessel, with the oath of the captain or a certified copy of the log
book.

2. The shipment of the goods insured, with the invoice and documents of discharge of
the custom-house.

3. The insurance contract, with the policy.

4. The loss of the goods insured, with the documents of No. 1, and a statement of the
crew, if necessary.

The discount of the goods insured shall furthermore be fixed after an examination by experts.

The underwriters may contradict the claim and they shall be permitted to adduce proof in court.

ARTICLE 770. After the said documents have been presented, the underwriter shall, if he
finds them correct and the loss proven, pay the insured the indemnity within the period stipulated in the
policy, and in the absence of any fixed period, within ten days after the claim.

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But if the underwriter should deny the claim and judicially contest it, he may deposit the amount
appearing from the proofs, or deliver it to the insured on giving sufficient security, either being decided by
the judge or court according to the cases.

ARTICLE 771. If the vessel insured should suffer damage by reason of an accident at sea,
the underwriter shall pay only two-thirds of the expenses of repairing, should they be made or not. In the
first case, the amount of the expenses shall be proven by the means recognized in law, and in the
second case it shall be appraised by experts.

Only the agent or captain authorized therefor may decide not to repair the vessel.

ARTICLE 772. If by reason of the repair the value of the vessel should be increased by more
than one-third of that fixed in the insurance, the underwriter shall pay two-thirds of the cost of repairs,
discounting the greatest value which the latter may have given the vessel.

But if the insured should prove that the greater value of the vessel does not arise from the
repairs, but because the vessel is a new one and the damage occurred on the first voyage, or that the
engines or rigging and equipment were broken, the deduction of the increase in value shall not be made,
and the underwriter shall pay the two-thirds of the costs of repair, in accordance with Rule 6 of Article
854.

ARTICLE 773. If the cost of the repairs should exceed three-fourths of the value of the
vessel, it shall be understood that she is disabled to navigate, and her abandonment shall be proper;
and should this declaration not be made the underwriters shall pay the amount of the insurance, after
deducting the value of the vessel damaged or of her remains.
ARTICLE 774. When indemnity arising from general averages is in question at the
termination of the adjustment, liquidation, and payment of the same, the insured shall turn over to the
underwriter all the accounts and documents proving the same produced to claim the indemnity of the
amounts which may have been due him. The underwriter shall examine the liquidation in his turn, and
should he find it in accordance with the conditions of the policy, he shall be obliged to pay the insured
the proper amount within the period stipulated or, in the absence thereof, within the period of eight days.
The sum due shall earn interest from this date.

If the underwriter should not find the liquidation in accordance with the stipulation of the policy, he
may bring an action before the judge or court of competent jurisdiction within the said period of eight
days, depositing the amount claimed.

ARTICLE 775. In no case can a claim be brought against the underwriter for a sum higher
than the total amount of insurance, even though the vessel saved, after an arrival under stress for the
repair of damages should be lost, or that the amount to be paid by reason of general average amounts
to more than the insurance, or that the cost of different averages and repairs on one voyage or within the
period of the insurance, exceeds the amount insured.

ARTICLE 776. In cases of particular average to the merchandise insured, the following rules
shall be observed:

1. All that which may have disappeared by reason of theft, loss, sale on the voyage,
deterioration, or by reason of any of the marine accidents included in the insurance
contract, shall be proven in accordance with the value of the invoice, or in the
absence thereof, by the value given the same in the insurance, and the underwriter
shall pay the amount thereof.
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2. If the vessel having safely arrived in port, the merchandise should be damaged
totally or in part, the experts shall state the value it would have had if it arrived in
good condition, and the value thereof in its damaged condition.

The difference between both net amounts, after deducting furthermore the customs duties,
freights, and other similar expenses, shall constitute the value or amount of the average, adding thereto
the expenses for the experts and others, should there be any.

If the average should have involved the entire cargo insured the underwriter shall pay the loss
resulting; but if it only involves part, the insured shall be paid in the proper proportion.
If the probable profit of the freighter should have been the object of a special insurance it shall be
liquidated separately.

ARTICLE 777. After the particular average of the vessel has been fixed by experts, the
underwriter shall justify his right in accordance with the provisions at the end of No. 9 of Article 580, and
the insured shall pay in accordance with the provisions contained in Articles 858 and 859.

ARTICLE 778. The underwriter can not oblige the insured to sell the object of the insurance
in order to fix its value.

ARTICLE 779. If the appraisement of the goods insured should be made in a foreign country,
the laws, usages, and customs of the place where it is to be made shall be observed, without prejudice
to submitting to the provisions of this Code for the proof of the facts.

ARTICLE 780. After the amount underwritten has been paid by the insurer he shall be
subrogated in the place of the insured to all the rights and actions which may be brought against the
persons who may have caused the loss of the goods insured through their malice or fault.

4. Cases in which Insurance Contracts are Annulled, Rescinded or Modified

ARTICLE 781. An insurance contract involving the following shall be void:

1. A vessel or merchandise subject to a previous loan on bottomry or respondentia, for

their full value.

If the loan on bottomry or respondentia should be for the full value of the vessel or
merchandise, the insurance with regard to the part over and above the amount of the
loan may be allowed to continue in force.

2. The lives of the crew and passengers.

3. The pay of the crew.

4. Goods of illicit commerce in the country of the flag of the vessel.

5. Vessels customarily dedicated to contraband, the damage or loss arising therefrom,

in which case the underwriter shall be paid one-half per cent of the amount insured.

6. A vessel which, without the occurrence of any force majeure preventing it, does not
put to sea within six months following the date of the policy, in which case, besides
the annulment, a payment of one-half per cent to the underwriter of the sum insured
shall be proper.

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7. A vessel which does not undertake the voyage contracted for, or goes to a different
port from that stipulated, in which case the payment to the underwriter of one-half
per cent of the amount insured shall be proper.

8. Articles in the appraisement of which intentional fraud was committed.

ARTICLE 782. If different insurance contracts have been made with regard to the same
article without fraud, the first one only shall be valid, provided it covers the full value thereof.

The underwriters of a subsequent date shall be exempted from all liability and shall receive one-
half per cent of the amount insured.
If the first contract should not cover the full value of the article insured, the liability for the excess
shall be insured by subsequent underwriters in order of dates.

ARTICLE 783. The insured shall not be exempted from paying the full premium to the
different underwriters if he should not inform the subsequent ones of the rescission of their contracts
before the article insured has arrived at the port of destination.

ARTICLE 784. An insurance taken out after the loss, average, or safe arrival of the insured
article at the port of destination, shall be void whenever it can be reasonably presumed that one or the
other had arrived to the knowledge of any of the contracting parties.

This presumption shall exist when the notice has been published in a place and the time
necessary to communicate it by mail or by telegraph to the place where the insurance was underwritten
has elapsed, without prejudice to the other proofs which may be brought by the parties.

ARTICLE 785. An insurance contract on good or bad advices shall not be annulled unless
the knowledge of the occurrence expected or feared by any of the contracting parties at the time of
making the contract is proven.
In case of proving the same the defrauder shall pay the underwriter one-fifth of the amount
insured, without prejudice to the criminal liability which may be proper.

ARTICLE 786. If the person taking the insurance, with the knowledge of the total or partial
loss of the goods insured, should be acting for the account of another, he shall be personally liable for
the act as if he had acted for his own account, and if, on the contrary, the agent should be innocent of
the fraud committed by the owner insured, all the liabilities shall be incurred by the latter, who shall
always be obliged to pay the underwriters the premium agreed upon.

Similar provisions shall govern with regard to the insurer when he underwrites the insurance
through an agent and has knowledge of the saving of the articles insured.

ARTICLE 787. If the risk the goods insured is pending and the underwriter or the insured are
declared in bankruptcy, either shall be entitled to demand security, the latter to cover the liability of the
risk and the former to obtain the payment of the premium; and if the receivers should refuse to give said
security within three days following the demand the contract shall be rescinded.

Should an accident occur within said three days without the security having been given, there
shall be no right to the indemnity nor to the premium of the insurance.

ARTICLE 788. If an insurance has been underwritten fraudulently by several underwriters,

and one or more of the same acted in good faith, the latter shall be entitled to receive the full premium of
their insurance of those who may have acted in bad faith, the insured being exempted from all liability.

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Similar procedure shall be observed with regard to the insured with the underwriters, when any of
the former should be guilty of the fraudulent insurance.
5. Abandonment of Goods Insured

ARTICLE 789. The insured may abandon for the account of the underwriter the goods
insured, demanding of the underwriter the amount stipulated in the policy:

1. In case of shipwreck.

2. In case of disability of the vessel to navigate, by reason of stranding, break down, or

any other accident of the sea.

3. In case of capture, embargo, or detention by order of the national or a foreign

government.

4. In case of the total loss of the goods insured, by such being understood an accident
reducing the value insured by three-quarters.

Other damages shall be considered averages and shall be suffered by the proper persons,
according to the conditions of the insurance and the provisions of this Code.
An abandonment shall not be proper in either of the first two cases when a shipwrecked,
stranded, or disabled vessel was floated and repaired to continue the voyage to the port of destination,
unless the cost of the repair exceeds three-quarters of the value for which said vessel was insured.

ARTICLE 790. If the vessel should be repaired, the underwriters shall be liable only for the
expenses arising from the grounding or other damage the vessel may have suffered.

ARTICLE 791. In cases of shipwreck and capture the insured shall be obliged to personally
take the steps advisable under the circumstances, in order to save or recover the goods lost, without
prejudice to the abandonment he may make at the proper time; and the underwriter shall be obliged to
reimburse him for the legitimate expenses caused by the saving, to the value of the goods saved, which
may be attached for nonpayment of said expenses.

ARTICLE 792. If the vessel should be totally disabled to navigate the insured shall be
obliged to inform the underwriter thereof, by telegraph if possible, and otherwise by the first mail
following the receipt of the news. The persons interested in the cargo who may be present, or in their
absence the captain, shall adopt all the measures possible to take the cargo to the port of destination in
accordance with the provisions of this Code, in which case all the risks and cost of unloading, storage,
reshipment or transfer, excess of freight, and all other expenses, until the goods insured are unloaded at
the point designated in the policy, shall be for the account of the underwriter.

ARTICLE 793. Without prejudice to the provisions of the foregoing article, the underwriter
shall be allowed a period of six months in which to transport the merchandise to its destination, if the
disability should have occurred in the seas around the Philippines from the ports of China, in the sea of
the same name, to those of the Yellow Sea and Straits of Sunda and Malacca, and one year if it
occurred at a more distant point. Said period shall begin to be counted from the day the insured informed
him of the accident.

ARTICLE 794. If, notwithstanding the efforts made by the persons interested in the cargo, by
the captain and by the underwriters, to transport the merchandise to the port of its destination, in

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accordance with the provisions of the foregoing articles, no vessel should be found on which to transport
it, the owner and insured may abandon the same.
ARTICLE 795. In case of the interruption of the voyage by reason of embargo or forced
detention of the vessel, the insured shall be obliged to inform the underwriters thereof as soon as he
receives notice of the same, and he can not abandon it until the periods fixed in Article 793 have
elapsed.

He shall furthermore be obliged to assist the underwriters, in so far as may be in his power, to
obtain the raising of the embargo, and must personally take all the steps necessary for the purpose, if
the underwriters, being in a remote country, can not act in concurrence with him.

ARTICLE 796. There shall be understood as abandoned with the vessel the freight of the
merchandise which may be saved, even though paid in advance, it being considered as belonging to the
underwriters, reserving the rights of other creditors in accordance with the provisions of Article 580.

ARTICLE 797. The notice shall be understood as received for the limitation of the periods
fixed in Article 793, from the time it is made public, either through the newspapers, or as a confirmed
rumor among the merchants of the residence of the insured, or when it can be proven that the latter
received notice of the accident from the captain, consignee, or any correspondent by mail or telegraph.
ARTICLE 798. The insured shall also have a right to make the abandonment after one year
has elapsed in ordinary voyages and two in long ones without receiving news of the vessel.

In such case he may demand of the underwriter the indemnity for the value of the amount insured
without being obliged to prove the loss, but he must prove the absence of news by means of a certificate
of a consul or marine authority of the port of departure, and another from the consuls or marine
authorities of the ports of destination of the vessel and of her registry, stating that said vessel has not
arrived at said ports during the period fixed.

In order to make use of this action, the period stated in Article 804 shall be allowed, short
voyages being considered those made to the coast of the Philippines and ports of China in the China
Sea, stopping places in the Yellow Sea, and ports in the Strait of Malacca, Indian Ocean, Red Sea,
Europe, and the European islands.

ARTICLE 799. If the insurance should have been taken for a limited period, a legal
presumption that the loss took place within the period agreed upon shall exist, unless proof is adduced
by the underwriter to the effect that the loss took place after his liability had terminated.

ARTICLE 800. The insured, at the time of making the abandonment, must declare all the
insurances taken out on the goods abandoned, as well as of the loans on respondentia made on the
same, and until this declaration has been made the period within which he is to be reimbursed for the
value of the goods shall not begin to be counted.
Should he commit fraud in this declaration, he shall lose all the rights he may have to the
insurance, and shall be liable for the loans he may have secured on the goods insured, notwithstanding
their loss.

ARTICLE 801. In case of the capture of the vessel, and should the insured not have time to
act in concurrence with the underwriter, nor to await instructions from him, he in person, or the captain,
in his absence, may redeem the goods insured, informing the underwriter at his first opportunity.
The latter may or may not accept the agreement made by the insured or by the captain,
communicating his decision within the twenty-four hours following the notification of the agreement.
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Should he accept it, he shall immediately deliver the amount agreed upon as redemption, and the
subsequent risks of the voyage shall be for his account, in accordance with the stipulations of the policy.
Should he not accept it, he shall pay the insurance, losing all rights to the goods redeemed; and if within
the period fixed he does not render his decision, it shall be understood that he refuses to accept the
agreement.

ARTICLE 802. If by reason of the recapture of the vessel the insured should regain
possession of his goods, all the costs and damages caused by the loss shall be considered average,
and shall be suffered by the underwriters; and if, by reason of the recapture, the goods insured should
pass into the possession of a third person, the insured may make use of the right of abandonment.

ARTICLE 803. After the abandonment has been admitted or declared admissible in a suit,
the ownership of the goods abandoned, with the increase or deterioration suffered by the same from the
time of abandonment, shall be vested in the underwriter, without being exempted from the payment of
the repair of the vessel legally abandoned.

ARTICLE 804. Abandonment shall not be admissible:

1. If the loss should have taken place before the beginning of the voyage.

2. If the abandonment is made in a partial or conditional manner, without including

therein all the goods insured.

3. If the intention of abandonment is not brought to the notice of the underwriters within
four months following the day on which the insured may have had knowledge of the
loss, and if the abandonment is not effected within ten months, counted in the same
manner with regard to accidents occurring in the ports of the Philippines, China,
China Sea, stopping places in the Yellow Sea and ports in the Straits of Malacca,
Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and in Europe and the European islands.

4. If it does not take place through the owner himself, or by a person specially
authorized by him, or by the one authorized to take out the insurance.

ARTICLE 805. In case of abandonment the underwriter shall be obliged to pay the amount of
the insurance within the period fixed in the policy, and should no period have been stated therein, within
sixty days from the admission of the abandonment, or from the date of the declaration mentioned in
Article 803.

TITLE IV
Risks, Damages and Accidents of Maritime Commerce
SECTION I
Averages

ARTICLE 806. For the purposes of this Code the following shall be considered averages:

1. All extraordinary or accidental expenses which may be incurred during the navigation
for the preservation of the vessel or cargo, or both.

2. All damages or deterioration the vessel may suffer from the time she puts to sea from
the port of departure until she casts anchor in the port of destination, and those

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suffered by the merchandise from the time it is loaded in the port of shipment until it
is unloaded in the port of consignment.

ARTICLE 807. The petty and ordinary expenses of navigation, such as pilotage of coasts
and ports, lighterage and towage, anchorage dues, inspection, health, quarantine, lazaretto, and other
so-called port expenses, costs of barges, and unloading, until the merchandise is placed on the wharf,
and any other expenses common to navigation shall be considered ordinary expenses to be defrayed by
the shipowner, unless there is a special agreement to the contrary.

ARTICLE 808. Averages shall be:

1. Simple or particular.

2. General or gross.

ARTICLE 809. Simple or particular averages shall be, as a general rule, all the expenses
and damages caused to the vessel or to her cargo which have not redounded to the benefit and
common profit of all the persons interested in the vessel and her cargo, and especially the following:

1. The damages suffered by the cargo from the time of its embarkation until it is
unloaded, either on account of the nature of the goods or by reason of an accident at
sea or force majeure, and the expenses incurred to avoid and repair the same.

2. The damages suffered by the vessel in her hull, rigging, arms, and equipment, for the
same causes and reasons, from the time she puts to sea from the port of departure
until she anchored in the port of destination.

3. The damages suffered by the merchandise loaded on deck, except in coastwise

navigation, if the marine ordinances allow it.

4. The wages and victuals of the crew when the vessel should be detained or
embargoed by a legitimate order or force majeure, if the charter should have been
for a fixed sum for the voyage.

5. The necessary expenses on arrival at a port, in order to make repairs or secure

provisions.

6. The lowest value of the goods sold by the captain in arrivals under stress for the
payment of provisions and in order to save the crew, or to cover any other
requirement of the vessel against which the proper amount shall be charged.

7. The victuals and wages of the crew during the time the vessel is in quarantine.

8. The damage suffered by the vessel or cargo by reason of an impact or collision with
another, if it were accidental and unavoidable. If the accident should occur through
the fault or negligence of the captain, the latter shall be liable for all the damage
caused.

9. Any damage suffered by the cargo through the faults, negligence, or barratry of the
captain or of the crew, without prejudice to the right of the owner to recover the
corresponding indemnity from the captain, the vessel, and the freight.

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ARTICLE 810. The owner of the goods which gave rise to the expense or suffered the
damage shall bear the simple or particular averages. cd

ARTICLE 811. General or gross averages shall be, as a general rule, all the damages and
expenses which are deliberately caused in order to save the vessel, her cargo, or both at the same time,
from a real and known risk, and particularly the following:

1. The goods or cash invested in the redemption of the vessel or cargo captured by
enemies, privateers, or pirates, and the provisions, wages, and expenses of the
vessel detained during the time the arrangement or redemption is taking place.

2. The goods jettisoned to lighten the vessel, whether they belong to the vessel, to the
cargo, or to the crew, and the damage suffered through said act by the goods kept.

3. The cables and masts which are cut or rendered useless, the anchors and the chains
which are abandoned in order to save the cargo, the vessel, or both.

4. The expenses of removing or transferring a portion of the cargo in order to lighten

the vessel and place her in condition to enter a port or roadstead, and the damage
resulting therefrom to the goods removed or transferred.

5. The damage suffered by the goods of the cargo through the opening made in the
vessel in order to drain her and prevent her sinking.

6. The expenses caused through floating a vessel intentionally stranded for the purpose
of saving her.

7. The damage caused to the vessel which it is necessary to break open, scuttle, or
smash in order to save the cargo.

8. The expenses of curing and maintaining the members of the crew who may have
been wounded or crippled in defending or saving the vessel.

9. The wages of any member of the crew detained as hostage by enemies, privateers,
or pirates, and the necessary expenses which he may incur in his imprisonment,
until he is returned to the vessel or to his domicile, should he prefer it.

10. The wages and victuals of the crew of a vessel chartered by the month during the
time it should be embargoed or detained by force majeure or by order of the
Government, or in order to repair the damage caused for the common good.

11. The loss suffered in the value of the goods sold at arrivals under stress in order to
repair the vessel because of gross average.

12. The expenses of the liquidation of the average.

ARTICLE 812. In order to satisfy the amount of the gross or general averages, all the
persons having an interest in the vessel and cargo therein at the time of the occurrence of the average
shall contribute.

ARTICLE 813. In order to incur the expenses and cause the damages corresponding to
gross average, a previous resolution of the captain, adopted after deliberation with the sailing mate and
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other officers of the vessel, and with a hearing of the persons interested in the cargo who may be
present, shall be required.

If the latter shall object, and the captain and officers, or a majority, or the captain, if opposed to
the majority, should consider certain measures necessary, they may be executed under his liability,
without prejudice to the freighters exercising their rights against the captain before the judge or court of
competent jurisdiction, if they can prove that he acted with malice, lack of skill, or negligence.
If the persons interested in the cargo, being on the vessel, should not be heard, they shall not
contribute to the gross average, which contribution shall be paid by the captain, unless the urgency of
the case should be such that the time necessary for previous deliberation was lacking.

ARTICLE 814. The resolution adopted to cause the damages which constitute a general
average must necessarily be entered in the log book, stating the motives and reasons therefor, the votes
against it, and the reasons for the disagreement should there be any, and the irresistible and urgent
causes which moved the captain if he acted of his own accord.

In the first case the minutes shall be signed by all the persons present who could do so before
taking action if possible, and if not at the first opportunity; in the second case by the captain and by the
officers of the vessel.

In the minutes and after the resolution there shall be stated in detail all the goods cast away, and
mention shall be made of the injuries caused to those kept on board. The captain shall be obliged to
deliver one copy of these minutes to the maritime judicial authority of the first port he may make within
twenty-four hours after his arrival, and to ratify it immediately by an oath.

ARTICLE 815. The captain shall supervise the jettison, and shall order the goods cast
overboard in the following order:

1. Those which are on deck, beginning with those which embarrass the handling of the
vessel or damage her, preferring, if possible, the heaviest ones and those of least
utility and value. cda

2. Those in the hold, always beginning with those of the greatest weight and smallest
value, to the amount and number absolutely indispensable.

ARTICLE 816. In order that the goods jettisoned may be included in the gross average and
the owners thereof be entitled to indemnity, it shall be necessary in so far as the cargo is concerned that
their existence on board be proven by means of the bill of lading; and with regard to those belonging to
the vessel, by means of the inventory made up before the departure, in accordance with the first
paragraph of Article 612.
ARTICLE 817. If in lightening a vessel on account of a storm, in order to facilitate her entry
into a port or roadstead, part of her cargo should be transferred to lighters or barges and be lost, the
owner of said part shall be entitled to indemnity, as if the loss has originated from a gross average, the
amount thereof being distributed between the entire vessel and cargo which caused the same.

If, on the contrary, the merchandise transferred should be saved and the vessel should be lost,
no liability can be demanded of the salvage.
ARTICLE 818. If, as a necessary measure to extinguish a fire in a port; roadstead; creek, or
bay, it should be decided to sink any vessel, this loss shall be considered gross average, to which the
vessels saved shall contribute.
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SECTION II
Arrivals Under Stress

ARTICLE 819. If the captain during the navigation should believe that the vessel can not
continue the voyage to the port of destination on account of the lack of provisions, well founded fear of
seizure, privateers or pirates, or by reason of any accident of the sea disabling her to navigate, he shall
assemble the officers and shall call the persons interested in the cargo who may be present, and who
may attend the meeting without the right to vote; and if, after examining the circumstances of the case,
the reasons should be considered well founded, it shall be decided to make the nearest and most
convenient port drafting and entering in the log book the proper minutes, which shall be signed by all.

The captain shall have the deciding vote and the persons interested in the cargo may make the
objections and protests they may deem proper, which shall be entered in the minutes in order that they
may make use thereof in the manner they may consider advisable.

ARTICLE 820. The arrival under stress shall not be considered legal in the following cases:

1. If the lack of provisions should arise from the failure to take the necessary provisions
for the voyage, according to usage and custom, or if they should have been
rendered useless or lost through bad stowage or negligence in their care.

2. If the risk of enemies, privateers, or pirates should not have been well known,
manifest, and based on positive and justifiable facts.

3. If the injury to the vessel should have been caused by reason of her not being
repaired, rigged, equipped, and arranged in a convenient manner for the voyage, or
by reason of some erroneous order of the captain.

4. Whenever malice, negligence, want of foresight, or lack of skill on the part of the
captain is the reason for the act causing the damage.

ARTICLE 821. The expenses caused by the arrival under stress shall always be for the
account of the shipowner or agent, but the latter shall not be liable for the damage which may be caused
the shippers by reason of the arrival under stress, provided the latter is legitimate.

Otherwise, the shipowner or agent and the captain shall be jointly liable.

ARTICLE 822. If in order to make repairs to the vessel or because there should be danger of
the cargo suffering damage it should be necessary to unload, the captain must request authorization of
the judge or court of competent jurisdiction to lighten the vessel, and do so with the knowledge of the
person interested or representative of the cargo, should there be one. aeIsaE

In a foreign port, it shall be the duty of the Spanish [*] consul, where there is one, to give the
authorization.

In the first case, the expenses shall be defrayed by the ship agent or owner, and in the second,
they shall be for the account of the owners of the merchandise, for whose benefit the act took place.
If the unloading should take place for both reasons, the expenses shall be defrayed in proportion
to the value of the vessel and that of the cargo.

ARTICLE 823. The care and preservation of the cargo which has been unloaded shall be in
charge of the captain, who shall be responsible for the same, except in cases of force majeure.

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ARTICLE 824. If the entire cargo or part thereof should appear to be damaged, or there
should be imminent danger of its being damaged, the captain may request of the judge or court of
competent jurisdiction or the consul, in a proper case, the sale of all or of part of the former, and the
person taking cognizance of the matter shall authorize it after an examination and declaration of experts,
advertisements, and other formalities required by the case and an entry in the book, in accordance with
the provisions of Article 624.

The captain shall, in a proper case, justify the legality of the procedure, under the penalty of
answering to the shipper for the price the merchandise would have brought if it should have arrived at
the port of its destination in good condition.

ARTICLE 825. The captain shall answer for the damages caused by his delay, if the reason
for the arrival under stress having ceased, he should not continue the voyage.

If the reason for said arrival should have been the fear of enemies, privateers, or pirates, before
sailing, a discussion and resolution of a meeting of the officers of the vessel and persons interested in
the cargo who may be present shall take place, in accordance with the provisions contained in Article
819.

SECTION III
Collisions
ARTICLE 826. If a vessel should collide with another through the fault, negligence, or lack of
skill of the captain, sailing mate, or any other member of the complement, the owner of the vessel at fault
shall indemnify the losses and damages suffered, after an expert appraisal. aisadc

ARTICLE 827. If both vessels may be blamed for the collision, each one shall be liable for
his own damages, and both shall be jointly responsible for the losses and damages suffered by their
cargoes.
ARTICLE 828. The provisions of the foregoing article are applicable to the case in which it
can not be decided which of the two vessels was the cause of the collision.

ARTICLE 829. In the cases above mentioned the civil action of the owner against the person
liable for the damage is reserved, as well as the criminal liabilities which may be proper.

ARTICLE 830. If a vessel should collide with another by reason of an accident or through
force majeure, each vessel and her cargo shall be liable for their own damage.
ARTICLE 831. If a vessel should be forced to collide with another one by a third vessel, the
owner of the third vessel shall indemnify for the losses and damages caused, the captain thereof being
civilly liable to said owner.

ARTICLE 832. If, by reason of a storm or other cause of force majeure, a vessel which is
properly anchored and moored should collide with those in her immediate vicinity, causing them
damage, the injury occasioned shall be looked upon as particular average to the vessel run into. 2005letcd

ARTICLE 833. A vessel shall be presumed as lost thru a collision which, upon being run into,
sinks immediately, and also any vessel which is obliged to make a port to repair the damages caused by
the collision should be lost during the voyage, or should be obliged to be stranded in order to be saved.
iatdc2005

ARTICLE 834. If the vessels colliding should have pilots on board discharging their duties at
the time of the collision, their presence shall not exempt the captains from the liabilities they incur; but

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the latter shall have the right to be indemnified by the pilots without prejudice to the criminal liability
which the latter may incur.
ARTICLE 835. The action for the recovery of losses and damages arising from collisions can
not be admitted if a protest or declaration is not presented within twenty-four hours to the competent
authority of the point where the collision took place, or that of the first port of arrival of the vessel, if in
Spain, [*] and to the consul of Spain [*] if it should have occurred in a foreign country.

ARTICLE 836. In so far as the damages caused to persons or to the cargo are concerned,
the absence of a protest can not prejudice the persons interested who were not on board or were not in
a condition to make known their wishes.

ARTICLE 837. The civil liability contracted by the shipowners in the cases prescribed in this
section, shall be understood as limited to the value of the vessel with all her appurtenances and all the
freight earned during the voyage.

ARTICLE 838. When the value of the vessel and her appurtenances should not be sufficient
to cover all the liabilities, the indemnity due by reason of the death or injury of persons shall have
preference.

ARTICLE 839. If the collision should occur between Spanish [* ]vessels in foreign waters, or
if it should take place in open waters, and the vessels should make a foreign port, the Spanish [* ]consul
in said port shall hold a summary investigation of the accident, forwarding the proceedings to the
captain-general of the nearest department [* ]for continuation and conclusion. aisadc

SECTION IV
Shipwrecks
ARTICLE 840. The losses and deteriorations suffered by a vessel and her cargo by reason
of shipwreck or stranding shall be individually for the account of the owners, the part of the wreck which
may be saved belonging to them in the same proportion.

ARTICLE 841. If the wreck or stranding should arise through the malice, negligence, or lack
of skill of the captain, or because the vessel put to sea insufficiently repaired and prepared, the owner or
the freighters may demand indemnity of the captain for the damages caused to the vessel or cargo by
the accident, in accordance with the provisions contained in Articles 610, 612, 614, and 621.

ARTICLE 842. The goods saved from the wreck shall be specially liable for the payment of
the expenses of the respective salvage, and the amount thereof must be paid by the owners of the
former before they are delivered to them, and with preference to any other obligation, if the merchandise
should be sold. cd05LET

ARTICLE 843. If several vessels navigate under convoy, and any of them should be
wrecked, the cargo saved shall be distributed among the rest in the proportion to the amount each one
can receive.
If any captain should refuse, without sufficient cause, to receive what may correspond to him, the
captain of the wrecked vessel shall enter a protest against him before two sea officials of the losses and
damages resulting therefrom, ratifying the complaint within twenty-four hours after arrival at the first port,
and including it in the proceedings he must institute in accordance with the provisions contained in
Article 612.

Should it not be possible to transfer to the other vessels the entire cargo of the one wrecked, the
goods of the highest value and smallest volume shall be saved first, the designation thereof being made
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by the captain, in concurrence with the officers of his vessel.

ARTICLE 844. A captain who may have taken on board the goods saved from the wreck
shall continue his course to the port of destination, and on arrival shall deposit the same, with judicial
intervention, at the disposal of their legitimate owners.

In case of changing his course, should he be able to unload them at the port to which they were
consigned, the captain may make said port if the shippers or supercargoes present consent thereto, as
well as the officers and passengers of the vessel; but he can not do so, even with said consent, in time
of war or when the port is difficult to make and dangerous.
All the expenses of this arrival shall be defrayed by the owners of the cargo, as well as the
payment of the freight, which, taking into consideration the circumstances of the case, are fixed by
agreement or by a judicial decision.

ARTICLE 845. If there should not be on the vessel any person interested in the cargo to pay
the expenses and freight corresponding to the salvage, the judge or court of competent jurisdiction may
order the sale of the part necessary to cover the same. This shall also be done when its preservation is
dangerous, or when in the period of one year it should not have been possible to ascertain who are its
legitimate owners.

In both cases the proceedings regarding publicity and formalities prescribed in Article 579 shall
be observed, and the net proceeds of the sale shall be deposited in a safe place, in the judgment of the
judge or court, in order to be turned over to the legitimate owners thereof.

TITLE V
Proof and Liquidation of Averages
SECTION I
Provisions Common to All Kinds of Averages
ARTICLE 846. The persons interested in the proof and liquidation of averages may mutually
agree and bind themselves at any time with regard to the liability, liquidation, and payment thereof. cdt

In the absence of agreements, the following rules shall be observed:

1. The proof of the average shall take place in the port where the repairs are made,
should any be necessary, or in the port of unloading.

2. The liquidation shall take place in the port of unloading should it be a Spanish [*]
port.

3. Should the average have occurred outside of the waters under the jurisdiction of the
Philippines or the cargo should have been sold in a foreign port by reason of an
arrival under stress, the liquidations shall be made in the port of arrival.

4. If the average should have occurred near the port of destination, so that said port
can be made, the proceedings treated of in Rules 1 and 2 shall be held there.

ARTICLE 847. In case of making the liquidation of the averages privately by virtue of
agreement, as well as when a judicial authority takes part therein at the request of any of the parties
interested who do not agree thereto, all of them shall be cited and heard, should they not have
renounced this right.

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Should they not be present or not have a legitimate representative, the liquidation shall be made
by the consul in a foreign port, and where there is none, by the judge or court of competent jurisdiction,
according to the laws of the country, and for the account of the proper person.

When the representative is a person well known in the place where the liquidation takes place,
his intervention shall be admitted and produce legal effects, even though he be authorized only by a
letter of the shipowner, freighter, or underwriter. LPEcd2005

ARTICLE 848. Claims for averages shall not be admitted if they do not exceed 5 per cent of
the interest which the claimant may have in the vessel or cargo if it is gross average, and 1 per cent of
the goods damaged if particular average, deducting in both cases the expenses of appraisal, unless
there is an agreement to the contrary.

ARTICLE 849. The damages, averages, loans on bottomry and respondentia, and their
premiums, and any other losses, shall not earn interest by reason of delay until the period of three-days
has elapsed, to be counted from the day on which the liquidation may have been concluded and
communicated to the persons interested in the vessel, in the cargo, or in both at the same time.
ARTICLE 850. If by reason of one or more accidents of the sea particular and gross
averages of the vessel or the cargo, or of both, should take place on the same voyage, the expenses
and damages corresponding to each one shall be determined separately in the port where the repairs
are made or where the cargo is discharged, or sold, or the merchandise is benefited.

For this purpose the captains shall be obliged to demand of the expert appraisers and of the
contractors making the repairs, as well as of those appraising and taking part in the unloading, repair,
sale, or the benefiting of the merchandise, that they separate and detail exactly in their appraisements or
estimates and accounts all the expenses and damages belonging to each average, and in those of each
average those corresponding to the vessel and to the cargo, stating also separately whether there are or
not any damages proceeding from the nature of the goods, and not by reason of a sea accident; and in
case there should be expenses common to the different averages and to the vessel and her cargo, there
must be calculated the amount corresponding to each and stated distinctly.
SECTION II
Liquidation of Gross Averages

ARTICLE 851. At the instance of the captain, the adjustment, liquidation, and distribution of
gross averages shall be held privately, with the consent of all the parties in interest.

For this purpose, within forty-eight hours following the arrival of the vessel at the port, the captain
shall call all the persons interested, in order that they may decide as to whether the adjustment or
liquidation of the gross average is to be made by experts and liquidators appointed by themselves, in
which case this shall be done should the persons interested agree.

Should an agreement not be possible, the captain shall apply to the judge or court of competent
jurisdiction, who shall be the one of the port where these proceedings are to be held in accordance with
the provisions of this Code, or to the consul of Spain, [*] should there be one, and otherwise to the local
authority when they are to be held in a foreign port. cdta

ARTICLE 852. If the captain should not comply with the provisions contained in the foregoing
article, the shipowner or agent or the freighters shall demand the liquidation, without prejudice to the
action they may bring to demand indemnity from him.

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ARTICLE 853. After the experts have been appointed by the persons interested, or by the
judge or court, before the acceptance, an examination of the vessel and of the repairs required shall be
made, as well as an estimate of their cost, separating these losses and damages from those arising from
the natural vice of the thing.

The experts shall also declare whether the repairs can be made immediately, or whether it is
necessary to unload the vessel to examine and repair her.
With regard to the merchandise, if the average should be visible at a mere glance, the
examination thereof must be made before it is delivered. Should it not be visible at the time of unloading,
said examination may be held after the delivery provided it is done within forty-eight hours from the
unloading and without prejudice to the other proofs which the experts may deem necessary.

ARTICLE 854. The appraisement of the goods which are to contribute to the gross average,
and that of those which constitute the average, shall conform to the following rules:

1. The merchandise saved which is to contribute to the payment of the gross average
shall be valued at the current price thereof at the port of unloading, deducting the
freights, customs duties, and charges for unloading, as may appear from a material
inspection of the same, not taking into consideration the bills of lading, unless there
is an agreement to the contrary.

2. If the liquidation is to take place in the port of sailing, the value of the merchandise
loaded shall be fixed by the purchase price, including the expenses until they are put
on board, excluding the insurance premium.

3. If the merchandise should be damaged, it shall be appraised at its true value.

4. If the voyage should be interrupted, the merchandise having been sold in a foreign
port and the average can not be estimated, there shall be taken as the contributing
capital the value of the merchandise in the port of arrival, or the net proceeds
obtained at the sale thereof.

5. Merchandise lost, which should constitute the gross average, shall be appraised at
the value merchandise of its kind may have in the port of unloading, provided its kind
and quality appears in the bill of lading; and should this not be the case, the invoices
of the purchase issued in the port of shipment shall be taken as a basis, adding to its
value the expenses and freights subsequently arising. cd

6. The masts cut down, the sails, cables, and other equipment of the vessel rendered
useless for the purpose of saving her, shall be appraised at the current value,
deducting one-third by reason of the difference between new and old.

This deduction shall not be made in regard to anchors and chains.

7. The vessel shall be appraised at her real value in her condition at the time.

8. The freights shall represent 50 per cent by way of contributing capital.

ARTICLE 855. The merchandise loaded on the upper deck of the vessel shall contribute to
the gross average should it be saved; but there shall be no right to indemnity if it should be lost by

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reason of being jettisoned for general safety, except when the marine ordinances allow its shipment in
this manner in coastwise navigation.

The same shall take place with that which is on board and is not included in the bills of lading or
inventories, according to the cases.
In any case the shipowner and the captain shall be liable to freighters for the loss of the jettison, if
the storage on the upper deck took place without the consent of the latter.

ARTICLE 856. Provisions and munitions of war which the vessel may have on board shall
not contribute to the gross average, nor the clothing used by the captain, officers, and crew.

There shall also be excepted the clothing used by the freighters, supercargoes, and passengers
who may be on board at the time of the jettison.
Neither shall the goods jettisoned contribute to the payment of the gross averages which may
occur to those saved in a different and subsequent risk. 2005cdasia

ARTICLE 857. After the appraisement of the goods saved has been concluded by the
experts, as well as that of the goods lost which constitute the gross average, and after the repairs have
been made to the vessel, should any have to be made, and in such case after the approval of the
accounts of the same by the persons interested or by the judge or court, the entire record shall be turned
over to the liquidator appointed, in order that he may proceed with the distribution of the average.

ARTICLE 858. In order to effect the liquidation the liquidator shall examine the sworn
statement of the captain, comparing it, if necessary, with the log book and all the contracts which may
have been made between the persons interested in the average, the appraisements, expert
examinations, and accounts of repairs made. If, as a result of this examination, he should find any defect
in this procedure which might injure the rights of the persons interested or affect the liability of the
captain, he shall call attention thereto in order that it be corrected, if possible, and otherwise he shall
include it in the preliminaries of the liquidation.
Immediately thereafter he shall proceed with the distribution of the amount of the average, for
which purpose he shall fix:

1. The contributing capital, which he shall determine by the value of the cargo, in
accordance with the rules established in Article 854.

2. That of the vessel in her actual condition, according to a statement of experts.

3. The 50 per cent of the amount of the freight, deducting the remaining 50 per cent for
wages and maintenance of the crew.

After the amount of the gross average has been determined in accordance with the provisions of
this Code, it shall be distributed pro rata among the goods which are to cover the same. cdasia

ARTICLE 859. The underwriters of the vessel, of the freight, and of the cargo shall be
obliged to pay for the indemnity of the gross average in so far as is required of each one of these objects
respectively.

ARTICLE 860. If, notwithstanding the jettison of the merchandise, breakage of masts, ropes,
and equipment, the vessel should be lost running said risk, no contribution whatsoever by reason of
gross average shall be proper.

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The owners of the goods saved shall not be liable for the indemnity of those jettisoned, lost, or
damaged.

ARTICLE 861. If, after the vessel having been saved from the risk which gave rise to the
jettison, she should be lost through another accident taking place during the voyage, the goods saved
and existing from the first risk shall continue liable to contribution by reason of the gross average
according to their value in their condition at the time, deducting the expenses incurred in saving them.

ARTICLE 862. If, notwithstanding the saving of the vessel and of her cargo in consequence
of the cutting down of masts or of any other damage deliberately done to the vessel for said purpose, the
merchandise should subsequently be lost or stolen, the captain can not demand of the shippers or
consignees that they contribute to indemnity for the average unless the loss should occur by an act of
the owner or consignee.

ARTICLE 863. If the owner of the jettisoned goods should recover them after having
received the indemnity for gross average, he shall be obliged to return to the captain and to other
persons interested in the cargo the amount he may have received, deducting the damage caused by the
jettison and the expenses incurred in their recovery. cd05LET

In the latter case, the amount returned shall be distributed between the vessel and the persons
interested in the cargo in the same proportion in which they contributed to the payment of the average.

ARTICLE 864. If the owner of the goods jettisoned should recover them without having
demanded any indemnity he shall not be obliged to contribute to the payment of the gross average
which may have been suffered by the rest of the cargo after the jettison.

ARTICLE 865. The distribution of the gross average shall not be final until it has been agreed
to, or in the absence thereof, until it has been approved by the judge or court after an examination of the
liquidation and a hearing of the persons interested who may be present, or of their representatives.

ARTICLE 866. After the liquidation has been approved it shall be the duty of the captain to
collect the amount of the distribution, and he shall be liable to the owners of the goods averaged for the
losses they suffer through his delay or negligence. LET05cd

ARTICLE 867. If the contributors should not pay the amount of the assessment within the
third day after having been requested to do so, the goods saved shall be attached, at the request of the
captain, and shall be sold to cover the payment.

ARTICLE 868. If the persons interested in receiving the goods saved should not give security
sufficient to answer for the amount corresponding to the gross average, the captain may defer the
delivery thereof until payment has been made. aisadc

SECTION III
Liquidation of Ordinary Averages

ARTICLE 869. The experts which the judge or court or the persons interested may appoint,
according to the cases, shall proceed with the appraisement and examination of the averages in the
manner prescribed in Article 853 and in Article 854, Rules 2 to 7, in so far as they are applicable.
BOOK IV
Suspension of Payments, Bankruptcies, and Prescriptions
TITLE I

Suspension of Payments and Bankruptcies in General

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SECTION I
Suspension of Payments and its Effects

ARTICLE 870. A merchant who, possessing sufficient property to cover all his debts,
foresees the impossibility of meeting them when they respectively fall due, may suspend payments,
which shall be declared by the judge of first instance of his domicile in view of his declaration.
ARTICLE 871. A merchant who possesses sufficient property to cover all his liabilities may
also suspend payments within forty-eight hours following the falling due of an obligation which he may
not have met. cd05LET

ARTICLE 872. A merchant who desires to suspend payments must attach to his petition the
balance of his assets and liabilities and the proposal of the extension he requests of his creditors, which
can not exceed three years. If in any manner whatsoever a discharge or reduction of the credits is
desired, the judge shall refuse to hear the petition of suspension of payment.

ARTICLE 873. The proceedings for the suspension of payments shall conform to the
provisions indicated in the special law. If the extension should be refused by the board, the proceedings
shall be concluded.
The provisions of Articles 870 to 873 shall be applicable to the suspension of payments of
associations and enterprises not included in Article 930.
In order that said associations not included in Article 930 may declare a suspension of payments,
an agreement of the members shall be indispensable, adopted at a general meeting, specially called for
the purpose, within the period fixed in Article 871. For the calling of the meeting the shortest possible
periods shall be fixed which are allowed by the association by-laws or articles.
SECTION II
General Provisions Regarding Bankruptcies

ARTICLE 874. A merchant shall be considered in a state of bankruptcy who does not meet
his current obligations.

ARTICLE 875. The declaration of bankruptcy shall be proper:

1. When the bankrupt requests it in person.

2. On a well-based request of a legitimate creditor.

ARTICLE 876. For the declaration of bankruptcy at the instance of the creditor it shall be
necessary that the request be based on a title by virtue of which an execution or writ of attachment was
issued, and that the results of the attachment should not be sufficient to cover the payment.

The declaration of bankruptcy at the instance of creditors shall also be proper, who, although they
have not obtained a writ of attachment, prove their credits and that the merchant has generally defaulted
in the payment of his current obligations, or that he has not presented his proposition of settlement in the
case of suspension of payments within the period fixed in Article 872.

ARTICLE 877. In case of the flight or concealment of a merchant, together with the closing of
his offices, warehouses, or dependencies, without having left any person to manage his business for him
and to meet his obligations, for the declaration of bankruptcy at the instance of a creditor it shall be
sufficient that the latter proves his title and proves said facts by means of a statement which he may
present to the judge or court.
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The judges shall furthermore officially, in case of the well-known flight or of which they have
authentic information, take charge of the establishments of the said fugitive, and shall prescribe the
measures required for their preservation until the creditors make use of their right with regard to the
declaration of bankruptcy. 2005cdasia

ARTICLE 878. After the bankruptcy has been declared the bankrupt shall be disqualified to
administer his property.

All his acts of ownership and administration subsequent to the period to which the effects of the
bankrupt retroact shall be null.
ARTICLE 879. The amounts which the bankruptcy may have paid in cash, securities, or
certificates of credit in the fifteen days preceding the declaration of bankruptcy by reason of direct debts
and obligations, which fell due after the latter shall be returned to the assets by the persons who
received the same.

The discount of his private property made by the merchant within the same period shall be
considered as a payment in advance.
ARTICLE 880. Contracts celebrated by the bankrupt within the thirty days preceding his
bankruptcy shall be considered fraudulent and void with regard to his creditors, if they are of the
following kind:

1. Transfers of real estate made without consideration.

2. Constitutions of dowries made of his private property to his daughters.

3. Concessions and transfers of real estate in payment of debts not due at the time of
the declaration of bankruptcy.

4. Conventional mortgages on obligations of a prior date which do not have this quality,
or for loans of money or merchandise the delivery of which had not taken place at
the time of contracting the obligation before a notary and the witnesses taking part
therein.

5. Gifts inter vivos, which have not the well-known character of remunerations, which
have taken place after the balance preceding the bankruptcy, if it should show
liabilities greater than the assets of the bankrupt.

ARTICLE 881. The following may be annulled at the instance of the creditors by proving that
the bankrupt acted with the intention of defrauding them of their rights:

1. The alienation for a valuable consideration of real property made in the month
preceding the declaration of the bankruptcy.

2. The creation of dowries, made within the same time, of property of the conjugal
partnership in favor of the daughters or any other transfer of said property for no
consideration.

3. The creation of dowries or acknowledgment of having received moneys made by a

merchant spouse in favor of the other spouse in the six months preceding the
bankruptcy provided they do not consist of real property which was inherited by the

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latter from his or her ascendants or acquired or possessed previously by the spouse
in whose favor the assignment of the dowry or receipt of moneys was made.

4. All acknowledgments of the receipt of money or of instruments as evidence of loans,

which, having been made six months before the bankruptcy in a public instrument,
are not proven as having taken place by means of a notarial statement; or if, having
been made in a private instrument, they should not conform to the entries in the
books of the contracting parties.

5. All contracts, obligations, and commercial transactions of the bankrupt which are not
prior to the declaration of bankruptcy by ten days at least.

ARTICLE 882. Any gift or contract made in the two years preceding the bankruptcy may be
revoked at the instance of the creditors if it should be proven that any supposition or simulation has been
made to defraud the former.

ARTICLE 883. In virtue of the declaration of bankruptcy, the pending debts of the bankrupt
shall be considered as falling due on the date of the same.
If the payment should be made before the time fixed in the obligation, it shall be made with the
proper discount.

ARTICLE 884. From the date of the declaration of bankruptcy all the debts of the bankrupt
shall cease to earn interest, with the exception of the mortgage and pledge credits, in so far as covered
by the respective guaranty.

ARTICLE 885. A merchant who obtains the revocation of the declaration of bankruptcy
requested by his creditors may bring an action for loss and damage against the latter, if it took place with
manifest malice, falsity, or injustice.

SECTION III
Kinds of Bankruptcies and Parties Thereto

ARTICLE 886. For legal purposes three different kinds of bankruptcies shall be
distinguished, viz.:

1. Accidental insolvency.

2. Culpable insolvency.

3. Fraudulent insolvency.

ARTICLE 887. An accidental bankruptcy shall be considered that of a merchant who is the
victim of misfortunes which, having to be considered accidental in the regular and prudent order of a
good commercial administration, reduce his capital to such a point that he can not meet his debts in full
or in part.

ARTICLE 888. A culpable bankruptcy shall be considered that of merchants who are
embraced in any of the following cases:

1. If the household and personal expenses of the bankrupt should have been excessive
and not in proportion with his net profits, taking into consideration the circumstances
of his standing and family. 2005cdasia

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2. If he should have suffered losses at any kind of play which exceed that which a
diligent father of a family should risk in this kind of entertainments.

3. If the losses should have occurred by reason of imprudent wagers and involving
large amounts, or from sales or purchases or other transactions, the purpose of
which should be to delay the bankruptcy.

4. If in the six months preceding the declaration of bankruptcy he should have sold at a
loss or for less than their current price goods bought on credit and which were not as
yet paid for.

5. If it should appear in the period which has elapsed from the last inventory until the
declaration of the bankruptcy that there was a time when the bankrupt owed, by
reason of direct obligations, double the amount of the net credit appearing in the
inventory.

ARTICLE 889. The following shall also be considered culpable bankrupts in law, reserving
the exceptions they may propose and prove in order to prove the innocence of the bankruptcy:

1. Those who have not kept their books of accounts in the manner and with all the
essential and indispensable requisites prescribed in title 3 of Book I, and those who,
even though they keep said books with all these conditions, should have made
errors in the same which may have caused losses to a third person.

2. Those who have not made their declaration of bankruptcy in the period and manner
prescribed in Article 874.

3. Those who, having absented themselves at the time of the declaration of bankruptcy
or during the progress of the suit, should not appear in person in the cases in which
the law requires it of them, unless there is a legitimate obstacle.

ARTICLE 890. A fraudulent bankruptcy shall be considered the one of merchants who are
included in any of the following conditions:

1. Flight with all or a part of their property.

2. The inclusion in the balance, memoranda, books, or other documents relating to their
business or transactions, of fictitious property, credits, debts, losses, or expenses.

3. If they have not kept books, or, if they have done so, they include therein, to the
prejudice of a third person, entries not made in the proper place and at the proper
time.

4. If they erase, blot, or change in any other manner the contents of the books, to the
prejudice of a third person.

5. If the result or existence of the assets of their last inventory does not appear from the
books, and the cash, securities, personal property, and goods of any kind
whatsoever which appear or are proven to have come into the possession of the
bankrupt subsequently.

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6. If they do not insert in the balance any amount of cash, credits, goods, or other kinds
of property or rights.

7. If they have used and applied to their own business funds or goods belonging to
another which may have been left with them on deposit for administration or
commission.

8. If they negotiate, without authority of the owner, drafts of another's account which are
in their possession for collection, transmission, or other purpose than negotiation,
should they not have forwarded the former the amount thereof.

9. If, having been commissioned to sell some goods or to negotiate credits or

commercial securities, they should not have informed the owner thereof for any
period of time.

10. If they falsify transfers of whatsoever kind.

11. Execute, sign, consent to, or acknowledge fictitious debts, presuming as such,
unless there is proof to the contrary, all those which have no foundation or
determined value.

12. If they purchase real estate, goods, or credits, placing them in the name of a third
person to the prejudice of their creditors.

13. If they have advanced payments to the prejudice of their creditors.

14. If they negotiate, after the last balance, drafts drawn by them on other persons in
whose hands they have no funds or open credit, or authority to do so.

15. If, the declaration of bankruptcy having been made, they should have collected and
applied to their personal use money, cash, or credits from the assets or taken from
the latter any of their belongings.

ARTICLE 891. The bankruptcy of a merchant, whose true condition can not be seen from his
books, shall be considered fraudulent unless there is proof to the contrary.

ARTICLE 892. The bankruptcy of commercial agents shall be considered fraudulent when it
is proven that they made some transaction of draft or traffic for their own account in their own name or in
that of another, even though the reason for the bankruptcy does not arise from said acts.
If the bankruptcy should have occurred by reason of the agent having constituted himself security
for the transactions in which he took part, the bankruptcy shall be considered fraudulent, unless there is
proof to the contrary.

ARTICLE 893. Parties to fraudulent bankruptcies shall be considered:

1. Those who assist in the removal of property of the bankrupt.

2. Those who having conspired with the bankrupt to suppose credits against him, or to
increase the amount of those they may actually have against securities or property,
and who sustain this supposition in the proceedings of examination or classification
of the credits, or at any meeting of creditors of the bankruptcy.

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3. Those who in order to place themselves in preference to others to the prejudice of

other creditors, by consent of the bankrupt, alter the nature or the date of the credit,
even though this should be done before the declaration of bankruptcy.

4. Those who deliberately and after the bankrupt suspended payments should assist
him in concealing or removing a portion of his property or credits.

5. Those who, being the holders of any property of the bankrupt at the time the
declaration of bankruptcy by the judge or court taking cognizance thereof is made
known, deliver it to the former and not to the legitimate administrators of the assets,
unless, being a nation or province different from that of the domicile of the bankrupt,
they prove that in the town of their residence the bankruptcy was unknown.

6. Those who refuse to deliver to the receivers of the bankruptcy the goods belonging
to the bankrupt which may be in their possession.

7. Those who after the publication of the bankruptcy should admit indorsements of the
bankrupt.

8. The legitimate creditors who, to the prejudice and in fraud of the assets, should make
private or secret settlements with the bankrupt.

9. The agents who take part in a transaction of traffic or drafts which the merchant who
has been declared bankrupt makes.

ARTICLE 894. The parties to the bankruptcies shall be condemned, without prejudice to the
penalties they may incur in accordance with the criminal laws:

1. To lose any right they may have to the assets of the bankruptcies to which they are
declared parties.

2. To return to the said assets the property, rights, and actions with regard to which the
declaration of their complicity was rendered, with interest and indemnity for loss and
damage.

ARTICLE 895. The classification of the bankruptcy, in order to demand the criminal liability of
the debtor, shall always be made in a separate proceeding, which shall be instituted with a hearing of the
department of public prosecution, of the receivers and of the bankrupt himself.
The creditors shall have the right to take part in the proceedings and to bring actions against the
bankrupt, but they shall do so at their own expense, without any right of action to be reimbursed from the
assets for the expenses of the suit or for the costs, no matter what may be the result of their actions.

ARTICLE 896. In no case, neither at the instance of a party nor officially, shall proceedings
with regard to the crimes of culpable or fraudulent bankruptcy be instituted before the judge or court has
made the declaration of bankruptcy and that there are grounds to proceed criminally.
ARTICLE 897. The classification of an accidental bankruptcy by means of a final judgment
shall not be an obstacle to a criminal action when, from the pending suits on settlements, admission of
credits, or any other matter, there should appear to be signs of acts punishable in the Penal Code, which

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shall be brought to the knowledge of the judge or court of competent jurisdiction. In such cases the
department of public prosecution must previously be heard. LPEcd2005

SECTION IV
Settlements of Bankrupts with their Creditors

ARTICLE 898. At any stage of the proceedings, after the examination of the credits and after
the classification of the bankruptcy has been made, the bankrupt and his creditors may make the
settlements they may deem proper.

Fraudulent bankrupts shall not enjoy this right, nor those who flee during the proceedings in
bankruptcy.
ARTICLE 899. The settlements between the creditors and the bankrupt must be made at a
meeting of creditors duly called.
Private adjustments between the bankrupt and any of his creditors shall be void; the creditor who
makes them shall lose his right in the bankruptcy and the bankrupt through this act alone, shall be
classified as culpable, when he does not deserve to be considered as a fraudulent bankrupt.

ARTICLE 900. The creditors specially preferred, the preferred creditors, and the mortgage
creditors need not take part in the resolution of the board with regard to the adjustment, and should they
not take part therein, they shall not be injured by reason thereof in their respective rights.
If, on the contrary, they should prefer to take part and vote on the settlement proposed, they shall
be included in the extensions and discharges which the board may decide upon, without prejudice to the
place and degree corresponding to their credit.

ARTICLE 901. The draft of the settlement shall be discussed and submitted to vote, the vote
of a number of creditors composing one over one-half of those present being sufficient to adopt
resolutions, provided their interest in the bankruptcy covers three-fifths of the total liabilities, after having
deducted the amount of the credits of the creditors included in the first paragraph of the foregoing article
who may have made use of the right granted them therein. 2005letcd

ARTICLE 902. Within the eight days following the holding of the meeting at which the
settlement was accepted, the dissenting creditors and those who have not taken part in the meeting may
object to the approval of the same.

ARTICLE 903. The only reasons on which the objection to the settlement may be based shall
be the following:

1. Errors in the procedure prescribed for the calling, holding, and deliberations of the
meeting.

2. Lack of qualifications or representation in one of the voters, if his vote decides the
majority in number or amount.

3. Fraudulent understandings between the debtor and one or more creditors, or of the
creditors among themselves to vote in favor of the settlement.

4. Fraudulent exaggerations of credits in order to obtain the majority in amount.

5. Fraudulent error in the general balance of the transactions of the bankrupt, or in the
reports of the receivers, in order to facilitate the admission of the proposals of the
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debtor.

ARTICLE 904. After the settlement has been approved, and, with the exception of the
provisions contained in Article 900, it shall be binding upon the bankrupt and for all the creditors whose
credits are of a date prior to the declaration of bankruptcy, should they have been cited in a legal
manner, or if, having been notified of the approval of the settlement, they should not have proceeded
against the latter in the manner prescribed in the law of civil procedure, even though they are not
included in the balance and have not taken part in the proceeding.

ARTICLE 905. By virtue of the settlement, should there not be an express stipulation to the
contrary, the credits shall be extinguished in the part from which the bankrupt was discharged, even
though there should remain a surplus from the assets of the bankruptcy, or he should subsequently
improve his fortune.

ARTICLE 906. If the debtor with regard to whom the settlement has been drawn should not
comply therewith any of his creditors may demand the rescission of the settlement and the continuation
of the bankruptcy before the judge or court which may have taken cognizance thereof.

ARTICLE 907. In case there should not have been the special agreement mentioned in
Article 905 the creditors who are not fully paid with the amount they receive from the assets of the
bankruptcy until the conclusion of the liquidation of the same shall preserve the right of action for the
amount still due them on the property which the bankrupt may or is able to acquire subsequently. iatdc2005

SECTION V
Rights of Creditors in Cases of Bankruptcy and their Respective Classification

ARTICLE 908. The merchandise, goods, and any other kind of property which may compose
the assets of the bankruptcy, the ownership of which may not have been transferred to the bankrupt
legally and irrevocably, shall be considered as another's property and shall be placed at the disposal of
its legitimate owners after an acknowledgment of their right at a meeting of creditors or in a final
judgment, the assets retaining the rights which the bankrupt may have in said property, in whose place
the former shall be substituted, provided the proper obligations are complied with.

ARTICLE 909. There shall be considered as included in the provisions of the foregoing
article for the purposes indicated therein:

1. The unappraised and appraised dowry property which may remain in the possession
of the husband if its receipt appears in a public instrument recorded in accordance
with Articles 21 and 27 of this Code. 2005cda

2. The paraphernal property which the wife may have acquired by reason of
inheritance, legacy, or gift, either in the manner in which it was received or if it has
been subrogated or inverted into other property, provided the inversion or
subrogation was recorded in the commercial registry in accordance with the
provisions contained in the articles cited in the foregoing number.

3. The property and goods the bankrupt may have on deposit, under administration,
leased, rented, or of which he enjoys the usufruct.

4. The merchandise the bankrupt may have in his possession ordered to be sold,
purchased, transferred, or delivered.

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5. The drafts or promissory notes which without indorsement or any statement which
transfers their ownership should have been sent the bankrupt for collection, and
those he may have gained possession of for the account of another, drawn or
indorsed directly in favor of the principal.

6. The moneys forwarded outside of account current to the bankrupt for delivery to a
determined person in the name and for the account of the principal, or to satisfy
obligations which are to be met in the domicile of the former.

7. The amounts which are owed the bankrupt by reason of sales made for the account
of another, and the drafts or promissory notes of the same character which are in his
possession, even though they are not drawn in favor of the owner of the
merchandise sold, provided it is proven that the obligation arises therefrom and that
they were in the possession of the bankrupt for the account of the owner in order to
be cashed, and the amounts thereof to be forwarded at the proper time, which shall
be legally presumed if the amount should not have been entered on account current
between both.

8. The goods sold to the bankrupt for cash, the price of which has not been paid at all
or only in part, while they remain packed in the warehouses of the bankrupt or in the
manner in which the delivery was made, and when they are in such condition as to
be specifically distinguished by the marks and numbers of the packages or bales.

9. The merchandise which the bankrupt may have purchased on credit, until the
material delivery of the same has not been made to him in his warehouses or in a
place agreed upon, and that the bills of lading or shipping receipts which may have
been forwarded to him, after being shipped, by order and for the account and risk of
the purchasers.

In the cases of this number and of No. 8 the receivers may retain the goods purchased or
demand them for the assets paying the price thereof to the vendor.

ARTICLE 910. There shall also be considered as included in the provisions of Article 908, for
the purposes determined therein, the amount of the bank notes in circulation of banks of issue, in case
of the bankruptcy of these institutions.

ARTICLE 911. From the proceeds of the property of the bankruptcy, after making the
deductions prescribed in the foregoing articles, the creditors shall be paid in accordance with the
provisions contained in the following articles.

ARTICLE 912. The graduation of the credits shall be made by dividing them into two
sections. The first one shall include the credits which are to be paid from the proceeds of the personal
property of the bankruptcy, and the second those which are to be paid from the proceeds of the real
estate.
ARTICLE 913. The preference of the creditors of the first section shall be established in the
following order:

1. The creditors specially preferred in this order:

a. The creditors by reason of burial, funeral and probate expenses.

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b. The creditors by reason of furnishing support to the bankrupt or to his family.

c. The creditors by reason of personal services, including the commercial

employees, for the six months immediately preceding the bankruptcy.

2. The preferred creditors who are given a preferred right in this Code.

3. The creditors preferred by common law, and the legal mortgage creditors in the
cases in which, in accordance with the said law, they are preferred with regard to
personal property. 2005cdtai

4. The creditors, appearing to be such by public instruments, together with those who
are such by reason of commercial instruments or contracts in which an agent or
broker has taken part.

The common creditors through commercial transactions.

5. The common creditors according to the civil law.

ARTICLE 914. The preference to be observed in the payment of the creditors of the second
section shall conform to the following order:

1. The creditors with a property right, in the terms and in the order established in the
mortgage law.

2. The creditors specially preferred and the others mentioned in the foregoing article, in
accordance with the order established therein.

ARTICLE 915. The amounts which the legal mortgage creditors may receive from the
personal property after it has been sold, shall be credited on account of what they are to receive through
the sale of the real property; and should they have received the full amount of their credit, it shall be
considered as canceled, and the creditors following in order of dates shall then be paid.
ARTICLE 916. The creditors shall receive their credits without distinction as to date, pro rata
within each class, and in accordance with the order indicated in Articles 913 and 914.

Exceptions are:

1. The mortgage creditors, who shall collect in the order of the dates of the record of
their instruments.

2. The creditors whose credits appear in public or commercial instruments, in which

agents or brokers have taken part, who shall also collect in the order of the dates of
their instruments.

There are reserved, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the preferences established on a
determined article, in which case, should several creditors of the same class appear, the general rule
shall be observed.

ARTICLE 917. The proceeds of the sale shall not be distributed among the creditors of one
grade, letter, or number of those designated in Articles 913 and 914, unless all the creditors of that
grade, letter, or numbers of the said articles are entirely paid, according to order of preference.

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ARTICLE 918. The creditors having a security established in a public instrument or in a

certificate in which an agent or broker has taken part, shall not be obliged to turn into the assets the
securities or objects they may have received as security, unless the receivers in bankruptcy should
desire to recover the same by paying the credit in question in full. lpe2005cda

Should the receivers not make use of this right, the creditors having security which can be quoted
on exchange may sell the same when the debt falls due, in accordance with the provisions of Article 323
of this Code; and should the pledges be of a different kind, they may alienate them with the intervention
of a licensed broker or agent, should there be any, and otherwise at a public auction held before a
notary.

The surplus which there may be after the credit has been extinguished shall be turned over to the
assets.

If, on the contrary, there should still remain a balance against the bankrupt, the creditor shall be
considered as a creditor whose credit appears in a public instrument, in the place corresponding to him
according to the date of the contract.
ARTICLE 919. The mortgage creditors, either voluntary or legal, whose credits are not
covered by the sale of the real estate which may have been mortgaged in their favor, shall be considered
with regard to the balance as creditors whose credits appear in a public instrument, being included in the
rest of this grade according to the date of their instruments.
SECTION VI
Discharge of Bankrupts

ARTICLE 920. Fraudulent bankrupts can not be discharged.

ARTICLE 921. The bankrupts not included in the foregoing article may obtain their discharge
by proving that they have fully complied with the approved adjustment they may have made with their
creditors.

Should there have been no agreement, they shall be obliged to prove that all the obligations
acknowledged in the bankruptcy proceedings were liquidated with the assets of the same or through
subsequent payments.
ARTICLE 922. With the discharge of the bankrupt all the legal interdictions which a
declaration of bankruptcy gives rise to shall cease.

SECTION VII
General Provisions Regarding the Bankruptcy of Commercial Associations in General

ARTICLE 923. The bankruptcy of a general or limited copartnership includes that of the
members who may have a joint liability therein, in accordance with Articles 127 and 148 of this Code,
and shall produce with regard to all of said partners the effects inherent in the declaration of bankruptcy,
but the respective liquidations always being kept separated.

ARTICLE 924. The bankruptcy of one or more partners shall set in itself produce the
bankruptcy of the copartnership.

ARTICLE 925. If the partners in limited copartnerships or stockholders of corporations should

not have delivered at the time of the bankruptcy the full amount they bound themselves to contribute to
the association, the receiver or receivers of the bankruptcy shall have a right to demand of them the
liabilities which may be necessary within the limit of their respective liability.

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ARTICLE 926. The special partners, the stockholders of corporations and those of joint-stock
companies, who are at the same time creditors of the bankruptcy, shall not appear in the liabilities of the
same except for the difference appearing in their favor after the amounts they were obliged to contribute
as such members should be provided for.
ARTICLE 927. In general copartnerships the private creditors of the partners whose credits
should be prior to the constitution of the association shall be placed in the same category as the
creditors of the latter, and in their proper place and grade, in accordance with the provisions contained in
Articles 913, 914, and 915 of this Code.

Subsequent creditors shall only be entitled to recover their credits from the balance, should there
be any, after the debts of the association have been satisfied, the preference granted by law to preferred
and to mortgage credits always being reserved.

ARTICLE 928. The settlement in cases of the bankruptcy of corporations which are not in
liquidation may have for an object the continuation or the transfer of the enterprise, with the conditions
fixed in the said settlement. iatdclet

ARTICLE 929. The association shall be represented during the bankruptcy in the manner
which may have been foreseen for such cases in the by-laws, and in the absence thereof, by the board
of directors; and they may at any stage thereof submit to the creditors the propositions of settlement
which they may consider proper, which must be decided in accordance with the provisions contained in
the following section.

SECTION VIII
Suspension of Payments and Bankruptcy of Railroad and Other Public-work Companies or Enterprises

ARTICLE 930. Railroads companies and others devoted to works of general, provisional, or
municipal public service, which find themselves unable to meet their obligations, may appeal to the judge
or court, requesting a declaration of suspension of payments.

The declaration of suspension of payments may also be made at the instance of one or more
legitimate creditors, as such being understood, for the effects of this Article, those mentioned in Article
876.
ARTICLE 931. The service of the operation of railroads or any other public works can not be
interrupted through any judicial or administrative action.

ARTICLE 932. The company or enterprise which desires to suspend payments requesting a
settlement with its creditors must accompany their petition with the balance of the assets and liabilities.
For the effects relating to the settlement, the creditors shall be divided into three groups. The first
shall include the credits for personal services and those proceeding from the exercise of the right of
eminent domain, and for works and material; the second, the mortgage obligations issued for the capital
which they themselves represent, and for the coupons and amortization which have fallen due and have
not been paid, the coupons and amortization being computed for their full value, and the obligations
according to the rate of issue, this group being divided into the number of sections equal to that of the
issue of mortgage obligations; and the third; all other credits, whatever be their nature and order of
preference to each other and with regard to the preceding groups.
ARTICLE 933. If the company or enterprise should not present the balance in the manner
prescribed in the foregoing article, or if the declaration of suspension of payments should have been
requested by creditors proving the conditions required in the second paragraph of Article 930, the judge
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or court shall order that a balance be struck within the period of fifteen days, and if the same should
elapse without the balance being presented it shall be made officially within the same period and at the
expense of the debtor company or enterprise.

ARTICLE 934. The declaration or suspension of payments made by the judge or court shall
produce the following effects:

1. It shall suspend executions and judicial decrees.

2. It shall obligate the companies and enterprises to deposit in the treasury or in the
banks authorized to accept the same, the surplus, after meeting the expenses of
management, operation, and construction.

3. It shall oblige the companies or enterprises to present to the judge or court, within
the period of four months, a proposition of settlement for the payment of the
creditors, previously approved at an ordinary or extraordinary meeting of the
shareholders, if the debtor company or enterprise should have been established on
shares.

ARTICLE 935. The settlement shall be approved if it is accepted by those representing

three-fifths of each of the groups or sections mentioned in Article 932.

It shall also be considered as approved by the creditors if there should not have attended within
the first period fixed for the purpose a sufficient number to make up the majority which is above referred
to, and at a second call it should be accepted by the creditors who represent two-fifths of the total of the
first two groups and of their sections, provided there is no objection exceeding two-fifths of any of said
groups or of the total liabilities. cdasia2005

ARTICLE 936. Within the fifteen days following the counting of the votes, if the result should
have been favorable to the settlement, the dissenting creditors and those who may not have attended
may object to the settlement by reason of defects in the call of the creditors, and in the signatures of the
latter, or for any of the reasons stated in Nos. 2 to 5 of Article 903.

ARTICLE 937. After the settlement has been approved without objection, or if said objection
has been disallowed by a final judgment, it shall be obligatory for the company and for all the creditors
whose credits are of a date prior to the suspension of payments, should they have been cited in a legal
manner, or, if having been notified of the settlement they should not have objected thereto in the terms
prescribed in the law of civil procedure.

ARTICLE 938. The declaration of the bankruptcy of companies or enterprises shall be proper
when they request it, or at the instance of a legitimate creditor, provided any of the following conditions is
proven in the latter case:

1. If four months should elapse from the declaration of suspension of payments without
the proposed settlement being presented to the judge or court.

2. If the settlement should be disapproved by a final judgment or if sufficient signatures

to approve it should not meet within the two periods referred to in Article 935.

3. If the settlement having been approved, it should not be complied with by the debtor
company or enterprise, provided that in the latter case it is requested by creditors
representing at least one-twentieth of the liabilities.
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ARTICLE 939. After the declaration of bankruptcy has been made, if the concession should
still be in force, the Government or the corporation which granted it shall be informed thereof, and a
board of receivers shall be established, composed of a president appointed by said authority; two
members appointed by the corporation or enterprise; one for each group or section of creditors and three
members selected from among the latter.

ARTICLE 940. The board of receivers shall provisionally organize the service of the public
work. It shall administer and operate it, being furthermore obliged:

1. To deposit the proceeds in the general treasury as a necessary deposit, after

deducting and paying the expenses of administration and operation.

2. To deposit in the same treasury, and also as a necessary deposit, the cash on hand
or securities the company or enterprise may have at the time of the receivership.

3. To exhibit the papers and books belonging to the company or enterprise when
proper, or when ordered to do so by the court.

ARTICLE 941. In the graduation and payment of the creditors, the provisions contained in
the fifth section of this title shall be observed.

TITLE II
Prescriptions

ARTICLE 942. The periods fixed in this Code for bringing the actions arising from
commercial contracts can not be extended and are without recourse.
ARTICLE 943. The actions which by virtue of this Code, do not have a fixed period in which
to be brought judicially shall be governed by the provisions of the common law.

ARTICLE 944. The prescription shall be interrupted through suit or any judicial proceeding
brought against the debtor, through the acknowledgment of the obligations, or through the renewal of the
instrument on which the right of the creditor is based.

The prescription shall be considered uninterrupted by a judicial proceeding if the plaintiff should
discontinue it, or the case should lapse, or his objection be disallowed.

The period of the prescription shall begin to be counted again, in case of the acknowledgment of
the obligations, from the day this is done; in case of their renewal, from the date of the new instrument,
and if the period for meeting the obligation should have been extended, from the date this extension has
fallen due.

ARTICLE 945. The liability of exchange brokers, commercial brokers, or ship-broking

interpreters in the obligations in which they take part by reason of their office shall prescribe after three
years.

ARTICLE 946. The real action against the security of agents shall only be brought within six
months, counted from the date of the receipt of the public securities, commercial bonds or funds which
may have been delivered to them for negotiation, with the exception of the case of interruption or
suspension mentioned in Article 944.
ARTICLE 947. The actions which may be brought by a partner against the copartnership, or
vice versa, shall prescribe after three years, counted, according to the cases, from the withdrawal of the
partner, his exclusion, or from the dissolution of the copartnership.
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It shall be necessary, in order that this period may run, to record in the commercial registry the
withdrawal of the partner, his exclusion, or the dissolution of the copartnership. The right to recover the
dividends or payments which are declared by reason of profit or capital on the part or share which is due
each partner in the association funds, shall prescribe after five years, counted from the day fixed to
commence their collection. LPrE05

ARTICLE 948. The prescription in favor of a partner who withdrew from the copartnership or
who was excluded from the same if it appears in the manner indicated in the foregoing article, shall not
be interrupted by the judicial proceedings instituted against the copartnership or against another partner.
The prescription in favor of the partner who was part of the copartnership at the time of its
dissolution shall not be interrupted by the judicial proceedings instituted against another partner, but
shall be by those instituted against the liquidators.

ARTICLE 949. The actions against the managing and directing members of associations
shall terminate at the end of four years, to be counted from the time they cease to manage the same for
any reason whatsoever. iatdc2005

ARTICLE 950. Actions arising from drafts shall extinguish three years after they have fallen
due, should they have been protested or not.
A similar rule shall be applied to drafts and promissory notes of commerce, to checks, stubs and
other instruments of draft or exchange, and to the dividends, coupons, and the amounts of the
amortization of obligations issued in accordance with this Code. 2005LPrE

ARTICLE 951. The actions relating to the collection of transportation, freights, expenses
inherent thereto, and the contributions of ordinary averages shall prescribe six months after the goods
which gave rise thereto were delivered.
The right to the collection of the passage shall prescribe after a similar period, to be counted from
the day the traveler arrived at his destination, or from the day he should have paid the same.

ARTICLE 952. The following shall prescribe after one year:

1. The action arising from services, works, provisions, and furnishing of goods or
money for the construction, repair, equipment, or provisioning of vessels, or to
support the crew, to be counted from the delivery of the goods and money, or from
the period stipulated for their payment, and from the time the services or labor were
rendered, if they should not have been engaged for a definite period or voyage.
Should this be the case, the time of the prescription shall begin to be counted from
the end of the voyage or from the date of the contract referring thereto, and should
there be any interruption therein, from the time of the definite conclusion of the
service.

2. The actions relating to the delivery of the cargo in maritime or land transportation or
to the indemnity for delays and damages suffered by the goods transported, the
period of the prescription to be counted from the day of the delivery of the cargo at
the place of its destination, or from the day on which it should have been delivered
according to the conditions of its transportation.

The actions for damages or defaults can not be brought if at the time of the delivery of the respective
shipments or within the twenty-four hours following, when damages which do not appear on the exterior of

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the packages received are in question, the proper protests or reservations should not have been made.

3. The actions arising from expenses of the judicial sale of vessels, cargoes or goods
transported by sea or by land, as well as those arising from their custody, deposit,
and preservation, and the navigation and port expenses, pilotage, rescues,
assistance, and salvages, the period to be counted from the time the expenses were
incurred and the assistance given, or from the conclusion of the proceedings, if any
should have been instituted on the case.

ARTICLE 953. The action to demand indemnity for collisions shall prescribe after two years
from the accident.

These actions shall not be admissible if the proper statement should not have been made by the
captain of the vessel damaged, or by the persons exercising his duties, at the first port which may be
made, in accordance with cases 8 and 15 of Article 612, when they may occur.
ARTICLE 954. Actions arising from loans on bottomry or respondentia or from marine risks
shall prescribe after three years from the period of the respective contracts or from the date of the
accident which gives rise thereto.

ARTICLE 955. In cases of war, officially declared epidemic, or revolution, or geological

disturbances of great consequence, the Governor-General of the Philippines may, after a resolution
adopted at a meeting of authorities, suspend the action of the periods fixed by this Code for the
purposes of commercial transactions, fixing the points or places where the suspension is considered
advisable when the latter is not to be general for the entire Philippine Archipelago. The order of
suspension must be communicated immediately by cable to the colonial secretary in order to be
submitted to the approval of the Government. In case of the breaking or interruption of the cable, the
most rapid means of communication possible shall be made use of.

For a better understanding and application of this Code there shall be considered as Spaniards
all persons who, according to the constitution of the Monarchy, are thus considered. LPrE05cd

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