1 OBLIGATION & CONTRACTS
Topics for recitation next year, 1st day of meeting. Statutes: These include Acts of Congress, court
Research on the following: rules, administrative rules, and presidential
issuances. Statutes provide details that the
1. What is Law? Sources of law [5] Constitution leaves unprovided for.
- A law is a rule made by an authority and that must Treaties and conventions: These have the same
be obeyed. force of authority as statutes.
- A law is commonly made by a government, which Judicial decisions: Decisions from the Supreme
citizens must follow or face punishment. For Court establish jurisprudence and are binding on
example, in most places there are laws about not all other courts.
stealing. Administrative regulations: These are a primary
- A law is a binding custom or practice of a source of law in the Philippines.
community : a rule of conduct or action prescribed
or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a The interaction between these sources shapes the
controlling authority.4 legal landscape of the Philippines and governs the
rights and obligations of individuals and entities.
Laws can be divided into two domains:
The Philippine legal system is a combination of
- Public law - Concerns government and society, both civil and common law.
including constitutional law, administrative law, and
criminal law. According to Council of ASEAN Chief Justice
- Private law - Deals with legal disputes between The main sources of Philippine law are:
parties in areas such as contracts, property, torts, the Constitution – the fundamental and supreme
delicts, and commercial law. law of the land. The fundamental law of the land,
and the highest authority that no other authority
In defining law, Sanchez Roman made a distinction can prevail against
between the two senses the term law connotes: Statutes – including Acts of Congress, municipal
the general sense and the specific sense. charters, municipal legislation, court rules,
- In the general sense (derecho), law is defined as the administrative rules and orders, legislative rules
science of moral laws based on the rational nature of and presidential issuances.
man. These moral laws govern his free activity for the Treaties and conventions – these have the same
realization of his individual and social ends. They are, force of authority as statutes.
by their very nature, demandable and reciprocal. Judicial decisions – Article 8 of the Civil Code of
- When we speak of law in the general sense, we are the Philippines provides that ‘judicial decisions
referring to the abstract and moral conception of law. applying to or interpreting the laws or the
Morality recognizes that humans, as rational creatures, Constitution shall form a part of the legal system of
have free will, and that they have every right to the Philippines’. Only decisions of its Supreme
exercise this free will to achieve their unique and Court establish jurisprudence and are binding on
individual aspirations. This right cannot be infringed
all other courts.
and must be respected by other humans.
- In the specific sense (ley), law is is defined as a rule
of conduct. These rules of conduct are just and To some extent, customary law also forms part of
obligatory. They are promulgated by legitimate the Filipino legal system. Art XIV(14), Section 17 of
authority (typically by the Legislature). They are of the 1987 Constitution provides that ‘the State shall
common observance and benefit. recognise, respect, and protect the rights of
indigenous cultural communities to preserve and
- Law in the specific sense is the common and popular develop their cultures, traditions and institutions’.
definition of law. It refers to the rules established by an
instrumentality of the State—usually the Congress— 2. What is a right? Real right versus personal
that either direct conduct, prohibit conduct, impose right. Examples of rights
rights or duties, or repeal or modify another law. There
is a presumption that these rules are just, and may
A right is the power or privilege given to a person
only be struck down by an instrumentality of the State
demandable from another person. It may also refer
that has the power to do so. These rules must be
observed by everyone under Philippine jurisdiction, to an interest or title in an object or property.
subject to limitations imposed by the rules themselves. A right generally involves two subjects:
an active subject, which refers to the person
Reference : Civil Law Reviewer by Desiderio P. Jurado entitled to the right and its enforcement, and
an passive subject, which is the person obliged to
The five main sources of law in the respect or suffer the enforcement of such right.
Philippines are: Example: Juan owes Maria P1,000.00 to be paid after
The Constitution: The fundamental law of the a year. After the lapse of one year, Maria has the right
land, and the highest authority that no other to be paid the money owed by Juan.
authority can prevail against
