Oblicon

Obligations in General

• Article 1156 defines an obligation as a juridical necessity to give, to do, or not to do.
• Obligations are either natural or civil, according to Article 1423.
• Civil obligations grant a right of action to compel performance or fulfillment, enforceable through judicial or legal means.

Kinds of Obligations

• Obligations are classified as civil or natural, based on their basis and enforceability (Art. 1423).
• Civil obligations can be enforced through a right of action to compel performance.
• Natural obligations are based on equity and natural law, not positive law, and do not grant a right of action.
• Once a natural obligation is voluntarily fulfilled, the obligor authorizes the retention of what has been delivered or the service rendered.
• If a third person pays a prescribed debt without the debtor's knowledge, the debtor is not legally bound to pay; however, if the debtor voluntarily reimburses the third person, they cannot recover what was paid (Art. 1425).
• If a defendant voluntarily performs an obligation after an action to enforce a civil obligation fails, they cannot demand the return of what was delivered or the value of the service rendered (Art. 1428).
• A testate or intestate heir who voluntarily pays a debt of the decedent exceeding the inherited property's value cannot rescind the payment (Art. 1429).

Essential Elements of an Obligation

• Active subject (creditor/obligee): The person in whose favor the obligation is created and who can demand performance.
• Passive subject (debtor/obligor): The person required to perform the obligation.
• Prestation: The subject matter of the obligation, which can be to give, to do, or not to do.
• Vinculum Juris/Efficient Cause/Juridical Tie: The reason the obligation exists, stemming from one of the sources of obligations.
• Obligations are generally transmissible, except when the nature of the obligation is personal, as stipulated, or by provision of law.

Sources of Obligations

• Obligations arise from law (ex lege), contracts (ex contractu), quasi-contracts (quasi-contractu), delicts (ex maleficio), and quasi-delicts (ex quasi-delicto).
• Obligations derived from law are not presumed and must be expressly determined in the Civil Code or special laws (Art. 1158).
• Obligations from contracts have the force of law between the parties and must be complied with in good faith (Art. 1159).
• A contract involves a meeting of minds where one binds oneself to give something or render a service (Art. 1305).
• Parties are bound by a contract's terms once entered into and cannot withdraw without valid reason.
• Quasi-contracts arise from lawful, voluntary, and unilateral acts to prevent unjust enrichment.
• Negotiorum gestio involves voluntarily taking charge of another's business or property without their authority, obligating the manager to continue until termination (Art. 2144).
• Solutio indebiti is the juridical relation created when something is received without the right to demand it, unduly delivered through mistake.
• Relatives obliged to give support to the deceased must reimburse a third person who bore funeral expenses without their knowledge (Art. 2165).
• Delict, or acts/omissions punishable by law, are governed by the Revised Penal Code, other penal laws, or the Title on Human Relations under the Civil Code.
• Civil liability arising from a felony includes restitution, reparation of damage, and indemnification for consequential damages (Art. 104).
• Proof for criminal liability requires proof beyond reasonable doubt, while civil liability requires preponderance of evidence.
• Acquittal of the accused does not automatically negate civil liability; it depends on the reason for acquittal.
• Quasi-delicts involve damage caused to another through an act or omission, with fault or negligence, without a pre-existing contractual relation (Art. 2176).
• Vicarious liability, under Art. 2180 of the Civil Code, specifies who is responsible for damages caused by others, such as parents for children, guardians for incapacitated persons, and employers for employees.
• A single act can lead to obligations from multiple sources.

Kinds of Civil Obligations

• Obligations are classified based on perfection and extinguishment, and as to plurality of prestation
• A pure obligation's performance does not depend on a future or uncertain event and is demandable at once.
• Conditional Obligations: the acquisition or loss of rights depends on the happening of a condition(Art. 1181).
• Conditions are categorized by: when the obligation arises or is extinguished, whose will it depends on, and the act's nature.
• Impossible conditions annul the obligation; however, if divisible, the unaffected part remains valid (Art. 1183).
• Once fulfilled, a condition retroacts to the day the obligation was constituted, with exceptions for fruits and interests.
• Obligations with a period or term have their effectivity or extinguishment determined by a certain length of time.
• Court can fix period in certain circumstances
• The debtor cannot be made to pay before the period, nor can the creditor be forced to accept payment before
• A debtor loses the right to use period in certain circumstances

Plurality of Prestation

• Conjunctive: use "and" to mean all prestations must be fulfilled.
• Alternative: use "or" to mean one prestation suffices to be fulfilled.
• Facultative: When only one prestation has been agreed upon, but the obligor may render another in substitution, the obligation is called facultative

As to Rights and Obligations of Multiple Parties

• Solidary Obligation: each debtor is liable for the entire obligation, or each creditor is entitled to demand the whole obligation.
• Joint Obligations: each debtor is liable only for a proportionate part of the debt, or each creditor is entitled only to a proportionate part of the credit.

Modes of Extinguishment of Obligations

• Obligations are extinguished by payment or performance, loss of the thing due, condonation/remission, confusion/merger, compensation, and novation.
• Other causes include annulment, rescission, fulfillment of a resolutory condition, and prescription.
• Payment involves not only money delivery but also any performance of the obligation.
• Legal tender is the currency that a creditor must accept as payment, as defined by the New Central Bank Act.
• Negotiable instruments/checks are not legal tender; their acceptance depends on the creditor.
• Dation in payment is the delivery or transmission of ownership of a thing by the debtor to the creditor as an accepted equivalent of the performance of the obligation.
• Cession occurs when a debtor delivers all his properties to his creditors, for the purpose of selling and applying the proceeds to settle his obligations to them. Tender of Payment & Consignation:
• Apply only to extinguish an obligation not to exercise a right eg right of repurchase requires no consignation
• Consigation is the deposit of the object of the oblgation in the right court/with right rules AFTER tender of payment failed Loss: means when the thing goes out of commerce, perishes or disappears in such a way that its existence is unknown orthat it cannot be recovered