1

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER
AND HUMAN RELATIONS

Q.

What is Civil Law?

ANS.

It is that branch of the law that generally treats of the

personal and family relations of an individual, his property
and successional rights, and the effects of his obligations
and contracts.
It is that mass of precepts that determine and regulate
the relations of assistance, authority and obedience among
members of a family, and those which exist among members
of a society for the protection of private interests, (1 Sanchez
Roman, Estudios de Derecho Civil, p. 70, citing Arribas),
family relations, and property rights. (1 Falcon 9; cited in
Paras, Civil Code of the Phils. Annotated, Vol. I, 1989 Ed.,
pp. 4-5).

Q.

What is a Civil Code?

ANS.

It is a compilation of existing civil laws, scientically arranged

into books, titles, chapters, and sub-heads and promulgated
by legislative authority. (Blacks Law Dictionary, p. 334).

Q.

When do laws take effect?

ANS.

Laws shall take effect after fteen days following the

completion of their publication in the Ofcial Gazette, or in
a newspaper of general circulation, unless the law otherwise
provides. (Art. 2, NCC, as amended by E.O. No. 200).

Q.

A law was passed providing for its immediate effectivity. Does this mean that its immediate effectivity
provision would dispense with the publication requirement? Why?
1

CIVIL LAW REVIEWER

ANS.

No. In the case of Taada vs. Tuvera, 136 SCRA 27, the
Supreme Court said that an immediate effectivity clause
does not preclude the requirement of publication since the
clear object of the law is to give the general public adequate
notice of the various laws which are to regulate their conduct
and actions as citizens. Without such notice and publication,
there would be no cause for the application of the maxim
ignorantia legis non excusat. It would be the height of
injustice to punish or otherwise burden a citizen for the
transgression of a law which he had no notice of.

Q.

May the 15-day period of publication be reduced or

extended?

ANS.

Yes. Publication is indispensable in every case, but the

legislature may, in its discretion, provide that the usual 15day period be shortened or extended. For example, the Civil
Code did not become effective after fteen (15) days from its
publication in the Ofcial Gazette but one year after its
publication. (Taada vs. Tuvera, supra.).

Q.

May the publication of a law before its effectivity be

dispensed with? Why?

ANS.

No. The publication clause cannot be dispensed with. The

omission would offend due process insofar as it denies the
public knowledge of the laws that are supposed to govern
it. If the legislature could validly provide that a law shall
become effective immediately upon its approval even if it
is not published (or after an unreasonably short time after
publication), persons not aware of it would be prejudiced.
They could be so, not because they failed to comply with it,
but simply because they did not know that it exists. This is
true not only of penal laws but also of non-penal laws, like
a law on prescription which must also be communicated to
the persons they may affect before they can begin to operate.
(Taada vs. Tuvera, supra.).

Q.

What does the law requiring publication of laws comprehend?

ANS.

The law comprehends all statutes, including those of local

application and private laws which should be published as
a condition for their effectivity and shall begin fteen (15)

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER AND HUMAN RELATIONS

days after publication, unless the legislature xes a different

effectivity date.
Covered by these rules are presidential decrees and executive
orders promulgated by the President in the exercise of
legislative powers, whenever the same are validly delegated
by the legislature, or, at present, directly conferred by the
Constitution. Administrative rules and regulations must
also be published if their purpose is to enforce or implement
existing laws pursuant also to a valid delegation.
Interpretative regulations and those merely internal, i.e.,
those that regulate only the administrative agencys personnel and not the public, need not be published; neither are
the so-called letters of instruction issued by administrative
superiors concerning their duties. (Taada vs. Tuvera, supra.).
The law, however, does not include decisions of the Supreme
Court because lawyers in the active law practice must keep
abreast of decisions, particularly where issues have been
claried, consistently reiterated and published in advanced
reports and the SCRA. (De Roy vs. CA, G.R. No. 80718,
January 29, 1988).
Q.

Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), a

body organized to regulate international trading
issued Administrative Order No. SOCPEC 89-08-01
under which, applications to the PITC for importation
from the Peoples Republic of China (PROC) must
be accompanied by a viable and conrmed Export
Program of Philippine Products to PROC carried out
by the importer himself or through a tie-up with a
legitimate importer in an amount equivalent to the
value of the importation applied for. Remington, Inc.s
application for importation was withheld for failure to
comply with the undertaking to submit export credits
equivalent to the value of the importations, hence,
it questioned the validity of the Order as it was not
published in the Ofcial Gazette or in a newspaper of
general circulation. Is the contention correct? Why?

ANS.

Yes. The Administrative Order which was not published in

the Ofcial Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation

DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to my late parents, Andres Albano and
Guillerma Soriano and to my wife, Lilian and children Jonjon, Myla
and Vinci (who are now all lawyers and co-authors of this book) all
of whom inspired me to write this book. To my grandchildren, Shonshon and Carl, this work is likewise dedicated.
Judge Ed Vincent S. Albano

To my wife Sheila and to my precious boy Sean Vincent, this

work is lovingly dedicated.

Atty. Ed Vincent A. Albano Jr.

I dedicate this work to my husband Carlo whos ever tolerable

of me, and to our little angel Carl Vincent.
Atty. Myla Khristabelle A. Pua

To my family and friends who have helped me pray to hurdle

the Bar Examinations, I offer my humble contribution to this book.
Atty. Ed Vincent A. Albano III

iii

iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors owe the completion of this work to the people who
unselfishly extended their much needed help in putting this book
together. We wish to thank them here, however unembellished it
may be.
Linda Joya for providing advance sheets of Supreme Court decisions cited in this book.
Nova Marie M. Estabillo, my assistant in the College of Law,
for industriously proofreading the manuscript of this book.
Crystal G. Perez, my secretary in the law office, for tirelessly
encoding the manuscript of this book.
Anton A. Arciaga, our clerk in the College of Law, for diligently
running errands during the revision of this book.
The Authors

vi

PREFACE
This book was prepared with the intention of making the subject easier for the students to understand the same. It is the authors
belief that the reviewee must easily understand the complicated aspects of the law; hence, the simplicity of this work.
This book contains important provisions of the law and doctrinal decisions up to 2007, designed to prepare the reviewee for the
Bar Examinations.
The author wishes to convey his heartfelt thanks to all his
friends for encouraging him to write the book.

ED VINCENT S. ALBANO

vii

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRELIMINARY CHAPTER AND
HUMAN RELATIONS ...................................................
Human Relations ............................................................
Natural Persons ..............................................................
Civil Personality .............................................................
FAMILY CODE .......................................................................
Marriage .........................................................................
Legal Separation ............................................................
Rights and Obligations Between Husband
and Wife .................................................................
Property Relations Between Husband and Wife ..........
Donations By Reason of Marriage .................................
System of Absolute Community ....................................
Conjugal Partnership of Gains ......................................
Separation of Property of the Spouses
and Administration of Common Property
by One Spouse During the Marriage ....................
Regime of Separation of Property ..................................
Property Regime of Unions Without Marriage .............
The Family ......................................................................
The Family Home ...........................................................
Paternity and Filiation ..................................................
Legitimation ...................................................................
Adoption ..........................................................................
Parental Authority .........................................................
Suspension or Termination of Parental Authority ........
Surnames ........................................................................
Presumption of Death ....................................................
Civil Register ..................................................................

1
24
54
55
59
59
102
112
114
115
119
132

144
148
149
155
158
163
193
196
215
233
239
242
244

PROPERTY .............................................................................

253

Classification of Properties ............................................

Accession .........................................................................
Quieting of Title .............................................................

253
259
284

ix

Co-ownership ..................................................................
Possession .......................................................................
Usufruct ..........................................................................
Easement ........................................................................
Nuisance .........................................................................
Donations ........................................................................

287
304
311
317
337
343

WILLS AND SUCCESSION ..................................................

370

Disinheritance ................................................................
Legal or Intestate Succession ........................................
Right of Representation .................................................
Acceptance and Repudiation of Inheritance .................
Collation ..........................................................................

437
441
445
452
453

PRESCRIPTION .....................................................................

459

Acquisitive Prescription .................................................

Extinctive Prescription ..................................................

464
468

OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS .....................................

472

Nature and Effects of Obligations .................................

Kinds of Obligations .......................................................
Pure and Conditional Obligations .................................
Obligations with a Period ..............................................
Alternative Obligations ..................................................
Joint and Solidary Obligations ......................................
Obligations with a Penal Clause ...................................
Extinguishment of Obligations ......................................
Payment or Performance ...............................................
Loss of the Thing Due ....................................................
Compensation .................................................................
Novation ..........................................................................
Condonation or Remission of the Debt ..........................
Contracts .........................................................................
Essential Requisites of Contracts ..................................
Object of Contracts .........................................................
Cause of Contracts .........................................................
Form of Contracts ...........................................................
Reformation of Instruments ..........................................
Rescissible Contracts .....................................................
Voidable Contracts .........................................................
Unenforceable Contracts ................................................
Void Contracts ................................................................
Natural Obligations .......................................................
Estoppel ..........................................................................
Trusts ..............................................................................

472
488
488
493
500
501
508
513
514
531
533
534
548
549
565
573
574
576
578
584
593
596
603
610
611
616

SALES .....................................................................................

633

Obligations of the Vendee ..............................................

708

ASSIGNMENT OF CREDITS .................................................

744

LEASE .....................................................................................

747

COMMON CARRIERS ...........................................................

787

Safety of Passengers .......................................................

803

PARTNERSHIP ......................................................................

814

Dissolution and Winding Up ..........................................

Limited Partnership .......................................................

829
834

AGENCY .................................................................................

836

LOAN .......................................................................................

869

Commodatum .................................................................

870

DEPOSIT .................................................................................

891

Necessary Deposit ..........................................................

Aleatory Contracts .........................................................

898
903

COMPROMISES .....................................................................

904

GAMBLING .............................................................................

913

GUARANTY AND SURETY ..................................................

915

Effects of Guaranty ........................................................

925

Antichresis ......................................................................

938

NEGOTIORUM GESTIO .......................................................

941

Solutio Indebiti ...............................................................

944

PLEDGE AND MORTGAGE ..................................................

947

Mortgages .......................................................................

957

QUASI-DELICTS ....................................................................

964

DAMAGES ..............................................................................

1025

Moral Damages ...............................................................

Nominal Damages ..........................................................
Temperate or Moderate Damages .................................
Liquidated Damages ......................................................
Exemplary Damages ......................................................
Preference and Concurrence of Credits..........................

1035
1057
1058
1060
1061
1069

LAND REGISTRATION .........................................................

1074

Torrens Title, Conveyances, and Others .......................

Procedure in Land Registration ....................................

1074
1095

xi