496 LAW ON SALES

1. Warranty That Seller Has Right to Sell

In a contract of sale, unless a contrary intention appears,
there is an implied warranty on the part of the seller that he has a
right to sell the thing at the time when the ownership is to pass.18
Since warranty goes into the issue of performance of obligation,
the warranty of the seller “that he has a right to sell” refers only
to the transfer of ownership at the point of consummation, and
not to any representation as to ownership and the capacity to
transfer the same at the point of perfection.
The foregoing warranty shall not be applicable to render
liable a sheriff, auctioneer, mortgagee, pledgee, or other person
professing to sell by virtue of authority in fact or law, for the
sale of a thing in which a third person has a legal or equitable
interest.19
Although Article 1547 uses the phrase “unless a contrary
intention appears,” there can be no legal waiver of such warranty
without changing the basic nature of the relationship, for the
warranty on the part of the seller that he has the capacity to sell,
i.e., to transfer ownership of the subject matter pursuant to the
sale, is the essence of sale; unless, it amounts to clear assumption
of risk on the part of the buyer, as when the obligation of the seller
is subject to a condition.

2. Warranty Against Eviction

In a contract of sale, unless a contrary intention appears,
there is an implied warranty on the part of the seller that when
the ownership is to pass, the buyer shall from that time have
and enjoy the legal and peaceful possession of the thing.20 The
vendor shall answer for the eviction even though nothing has
been said in the contract on the subject.21

18
Art. 1547, Civil Code.
19
Art. 1547, Civil Code.
20
Art. 1547, Civil Code.
21
Art. 1548, Civil Code.
 CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES 497

a. When There Is Breach of Warranty Against Eviction

The seller’s implied warranty against eviction only applies
(i.e., there has been a breach of warranty) when the following
conditions are present:

(a) Purchaser has been deprived of, or evicted

from, the whole or part of the thing sold;
(b) Eviction is by a final judgment;
(c) Basis thereof is by virtue of a right prior to
the sale made by the seller; and
(d) Seller has been summoned and made
co-defendant in the suit for eviction at the
instance of the buyer.22

The warranty cannot be enforced until a final judgment has

been rendered, whereby the buyer loses the thing acquired or a
part thereof.23 The buyer need not appeal from the decision in
order that the seller may become liable for eviction.24 There is no
need for the buyer to resist to the fullest the action for eviction
taken against him, since the warranty is a covenant on the part
of the seller, and by having given the seller proper notice of the
eviction, (i.e., by making him a party to the case) the buyer is
deemed to have complied with what is incumbent upon him, and
the seller, being a party to the case, must then take the lead to
resist the claim of the third party on the subject matter of the sale.
Power Commercial and Industrial Corp. v. Court of Appeals,25
held that there can be no action for breach of the said warranty
when the buyer was well aware of the presence of the tenants at
the time the buyer entered into the sale transaction, and it even
undertook the job of ejecting the squatters which in fact filed suit
to eject the occupants.

22
Canizares Tiana v. Torrejos, 21 Phil. 127 (1911); Escaler v. Court of Appeals, 138
SCRA 1 (1985); Power Commercial and Industrial Corporation v. Court of Appeals, 274
SCRA 597 (1997).
23
Art. 1557, Civil Code.
24
Art. 1549, Civil Code.
25
274 SCRA 597 (1997).
498 LAW ON SALES

Jovellano v. Lualhati,26 held that “[N]o discussion, therefore,

should be made here as to whether or not the vendor had means
of defense. All of this counts very little. There is only one condition
to be complied with by the vendee, and that is to give notice of
the complaint. Once this is proven, his right to the warranty is
perfect, and the vendor cannot set up anything against it.”27
Escaler v. Court of Appeals,28 held that the breach of
warranty against eviction cannot be enforced against the seller
when the only thing that the buyer did was to furnish the seller,
by registered mail, with a copy of the opposition the buyer filed in
the eviction suit, without going through formally summoning the
seller to be a party to the case. The Court held that —

This is not the kind of notice prescribed by the

aforequoted Articles 1558 and 1559 of the New Civil
Code ... the respondents as vendor/s should be
made parties to the suit at the instance of petitioners-
vendees, either by way of asking that the former be
made a co-defendant or by the filing of a third-party
complaint against said vendors.29

b. Eviction in Part
Should the buyer lose, by reason of the eviction, a part of
the thing sold of such importance, in relation to the whole, that
he would not have bought it without said part, he may demand
the rescission of the contract; but with the obligation to return the
thing without other encumbrances than those which it had when
he acquired it.30 He may exercise this right of action, instead of
enforcing the vendor’s liability for eviction.
The same rule shall be observed when two or more things
have been jointly sold for a lump sum, or for a separate price for
each of them, when it clearly appears that the buyer would not
have purchased one without the other.31
26
47 Phil. 371 (1925).
27
Ibid, quoting MANRESA in COMENTARIOS AL CODIGO CIVIL ESPAÑOL, TOMO X, p. 212.
28
138 SCRA 1 (1985).
29
Ibid, at p. 7.
30
Art. 1556, Civil Code.
31
Art. 1556, Civil Code.
 CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES 499

c. Particular Causes Given by Law

When adverse possession had been commenced before the
sale but the prescriptive period is completed after the transfer, the
seller shall not be liable for breach of warranty against eviction.32
If the property is sold for nonpayment of taxes due and not
made known to the buyer before the sale, the seller is liable for
the eviction.33

d. Applicability to Judicial Sales

The judgment debtor is also responsible for eviction in
judicial sales, unless it is otherwise decreed in the judgment.34
Nevertheless, Santiago Land Dev. Corp. v. Court of Appeals,35
held that although in voluntary sales, the vendor can be expected
to defend his title because of his warranty to the vendees, no
such obligation is owed by the owner whose land is sold at
execution sale, and that “[i]n fact the buyer at such sales takes
the property subject to the superior right of other parties,”36 as
provided expressly under the Rules of Court.
In another case,37 the Court ruled that in execution sales,
the rule of caveat emptor applies; the sheriff does not warrant
the title to the property sold by him, and it is not incumbent on
him to place the purchaser in possession of the property.

e. Amounts for Which Seller Is Liable

in Case of Eviction
Under Article 1555 of the Civil Code, when the warranty has
been agreed upon or nothing has been stipulated on this point,
in case eviction occurs, the buyer shall have the right to demand
of the seller:

32
Art. 1550, Civil Code.
33
Art. 1551, Civil Code.
34
Art. 1552, Civil Code.
35
276 SCRA 674 (1997).
36
Ibid, at p. 677.
37
Allure Manufacturing, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, 199 SCRA 285 (1991).
500 LAW ON SALES

(a) Return of the value which the thing sold had

at the time of the eviction, be it greater or
lesser than the price of the sale;
(b) Income or fruits, if buyer has been ordered
to deliver them to the party who won the suit
against him;
(c) Costs of the suit which caused the eviction,
and, in a proper case, those of the suit
brought against the seller for the warranty;
(d) Expenses of the contract, if the buyer has
paid them; and
(e) Damages and interests and ornamental ex-
penses, if the sale was made in bad faith.

f. Waiver of Warranty and Effects Thereof

Although Article 1548 of the Civil Code provides that the
contracting parties to a contract of sale “may increase, diminish,
or suppress” the implied warranty against eviction, nonetheless,
the effect of waiver depends on the nature of such waiver, whether
it is general or specific waiver, and whether done in good faith or
bad faith on the part of the seller.
Under Article 1553, if the seller acted in bad faith then any
stipulation exempting the seller from the obligation to answer for
eviction shall be void.
On the other hand, if the buyer merely renounces the
warranty in general terms, without knowledge of a particular
risk, and eviction should take place, the seller shall only pay the
value which the thing sold had at the time of the eviction. In other
words, a general waiver of the warranty does not create the effect
of waiver but merely limits the liability of the seller to the value of
the thing sold at the time of eviction.
Should the buyer have made the waiver with knowledge of
the risks of eviction and assumed its consequences, the seller
shall not be liable.38 When the waiver is of a specific case of
38
Art. 1554, Civil Code.
 CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES 501

expected eviction, the waiver has the effect of wiping out the
warranty as to that specific risk, but not as to eviction caused by
other reasons not covered in the waiver.
J.M. Tuazon v. Court of Appeals,39 has, however, held that
even when there is no specific waiver, a buyer cannot take refuge
on the warranty against eviction when he purchases the land fully
aware of a claim by a third party on the title to the land and who
was in actual possession thereof; when the buyer cannot show
that he is a buyer in good faith, it is not entitled to the warranty
against eviction.

3. Warranty Against Non-Apparent Servitudes

Under Article 1560 of the Civil Code, the warranty shall apply
only when the following conditions are present:
(a) The immovable sold is encumbered with
any non-apparent burden or servitude, not
mentioned in the agreement; and
(b) The nature of such non-apparent burden or
servitude is such that it must presumed that
the buyer would not have acquired it had he
been aware thereof.

a. When Warranty Not Applicable

The warranty does not apply:
(a) If the servitude is mentioned in the agree-
ment;40
(b) If the non-apparent burden or servitude is
recorded in the Registry of Deeds, unless
there is an express warranty that the thing is
free from all burdens and encumbrances.41

39
94 SCRA 413 (1979).
40
Art. 1560, Civil Code.
41
Art. 1560, Civil Code.
502 LAW ON SALES

b. Remedies and Prescriptive Period

The buyer may either bring an action for rescission or sue
for damages only if he does so within one (1) year computed
from the execution of the deed.
If such one year period has lapsed, the buyer may only bring
an action for damages within an equal period, to be counted from
the date on which he discovered the burden or servitude.42

4. Warranty Against Hidden Defects

Under Article 1561 of the Civil Code, the seller shall be res-
ponsible for warranty against “hidden defect” only when:
(a) The nature of the hidden defect is such that
it should render the subject matter unfit for
the use for which it is intended; or
(b) Should diminish its fitness for such use to
such an extent that, had the buyer been
aware thereof, he would not have acquired
it or would have given a lower price for it.
The seller is not answerable for patent defects or those
which are visible, or even for those which are not visible if the
buyer is an expert who, by reason of his trade or profession,
should have known them.43
The seller is responsible to the buyer for any hidden faults or
defects in the thing sold, even though he was not aware thereof.44
The warranty applies to both movable and immovable
subject matters. For example, in Investments & Development,
Inc. v. Court of Appeals,45 the Court held that the implied warranty
against hidden defects under Article 1547 of the Civil Code covers
only those that make the object of the sale unfit for the use for
which it was intended at the time of sale, and that in the sale
of agricultural land, the existing tenancy relationship pertaining
42
Art. 1560, Civil Code.
43
Art. 1561, Civil Code.
44
Art. 1566, Civil Code.
45
162 SCRA 636 (1988).
 CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES 503

thereto cannot be considered as “hidden fault or defect” since it

did not go into the use of the land.

a. Requisites for Breach of Warranty

Nutrimix Feeds Corp. v. Court of Appeals,46 held that “the
requisites to recover on account of hidden defects are as follows:”
(a) Defect must be hidden;
(b) Defect must exist at the time the sale was
made;
(c) Defect must ordinarily have been excluded
from the contract;
(d) Defect, must be important (render the thing
unfit or considerably decreases fitness);
(e) Action must be instituted within the statute
of limitations.
b. Remedies of Buyer and Obligation of
Seller for Breach of Warranty
In the event of breach of the warranty against hidden defects,
Nutrimix Feeds Corp. also confirmed the principle under Article
1567 of the Civil Code that the remedy of the buyer is either to
withdraw from the contract (accion redhibitoria) or to demand a
proportionate reduction of the price (accion quanti minoris), with
damages in either case. A choice of remedies is available to the
buyer only when the thing has not been lost.
If the subject matter of sale is actually lost, the extent of the
obligations of the seller for breach of warranty against hidden
defects depends upon the: cause of the lost, knowledge of the
hidden defect by seller, and whether there has been a waiver of
the warranty, thus:
(a) If the thing sold should be lost as a
consequence of the hidden faults:
(i) If the seller was aware of them, he shall
bear the loss, and shall be obliged to
46
441 SCRA 357 (2004).
504 LAW ON SALES

return the price and refund the expenses

of the contract, with damages; or
(ii) If seller was not aware of them, the
seller is obliged only to return the price
and interest thereon, and reimburse the
expenses of the contract which the buyer
might have paid, but not for damages.47
(b) If thing is lost through a fortuitous event or
through the fault of the buyer, then:
(i) If the seller was not aware of the hidden
defects, the buyer may demand from
the seller the price which he paid, less
the value which the thing had when it
was lost;
(ii) If the seller acted in bad faith, in addition
he shall pay damages to the buyer.48

c. Waiver of Warranty
If there has been a stipulation exempting the seller from
hidden defects, then:
(a) If the seller was not aware of the hidden
defects, the loss of the thing by virtue of
such defect will not make the seller liable at
all to the buyer; or
(b) If the seller was fully aware of such defect,
such waiver is in bad faith, and the seller
would still be liable for the warranty.49
In Filinvest Credit Corp. v. Court of Appeals,50 the Court held
that a provision in a contract of lease with option to purchase
(which it treated as a sale of movable on installments) that the
buyer-lessee “absolutely releases the lessor from any liability

47
Art. 1568, Civil Code.
48
Art. 1569, Civil Code.
49
Art. 1566, Civil Code.
50
178 SCRA 188 (1989).
 CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES 505

whatsoever as to any and all matters in relation to warranty in

accordance with the provisions hereinafter stipulated,” was an
express waiver of warranty against hidden defects in favor of
the seller-lessor which “absolved the [seller-lessor] from any
liability arising from any defect or deficiency of the machinery
they bought.”51
The Court also held in that case that since the buyers-
lessees deal with such particular type of machinery, they should
shoulder the responsibility of protecting themselves against the
product defects, thus: “This is where the waiver of warranties is
of paramount importance. Common sense dictates that a buyer
inspects a product before purchasing it (under the principle of
caveat emptor or ‘buyer beware’) and does not return it for defects
discovered later on, particularly if the return of the product is not
covered by or stipulated in a contract or warranty.”52
The Court further held that “to declare the waiver as non-ef-
fective, as the lower courts did, would impair the obligation of con-
tracts. Certainly, the waiver in question could not be considered a
mere surplusage in the contract between the parties.”53
NDC v. Madrigal Wan Hai Lines Corp.,54 held that in contracts
of sale, the phrase “as is, where is” basis pertains solely to the
physical condition of the thing sold, not to its legal situation,
and therefore does not amount to a waiver on the legal defects
pertaining to the subject matter. The Court ruled that the U.S. tax
liabilities which constituted a potential lien pertained only to the
legal situation of the subject matter, and not to its physical aspect,
and that the buyer of the thing had no obligation to shoulder the
same.

d. Applicability to Judicial Sales

The warranty against hidden defects shall be applicable to
judicial sales, except that the judgment debtor shall not be liable
for damages.55
51
Ibid, at p. 196.
52
Ibid, at p. 197.
53
Ibid, at p. 197.
54
412 SCRA 375 (2003).
55
Art. 1570, Civil Code.
506 LAW ON SALES

e. Prescriptive Period
Actions on warranties against hidden defects shall be barred
after six (6) months from the delivery of the thing sold.56

5. Redhibitory Defects of Animals

Under Article 1576 of the Civil Code, even when professional
inspection has been made, if the hidden defect of animals should
be of such a nature that expert knowledge is not sufficient to
discover it, the defect shall be considered as redhibitory. But if
the veterinarian, through ignorance or bad faith, should fail to
discover or disclose it, he shall be liable for damages.57

a. Sale of Team
Under Article 1572 of the Civil Code, if two or more animals
are sold together, whether for a lump sum or for a separate price
for each of them, the redhibitory defect of one shall only give
rise to its redhibition, and not that of the others; unless it should
appear that the buyer would not have purchased the sound
animal or animals without the defective one. The latter case shall
be presumed when a team, yoke, pair, or set is bought, even
if a separate price has been fixed for each one of the animals
composing the same.
Note that the foregoing rules with respect to the sale of
animals shall in like manner be applicable to the sale of other
things.58

b. Other Rules on Sale of Animals

There is no warranty against hidden defects of animals
sold at fairs or at public auctions, or of live stock sold as
condemned.59
The sale of animals suffering from contagious diseases
shall be void.60
56
Art. 1571, Civil Code.
57
Art. 1576, second paragraph, Civil Code.
58
Art. 1573, Civil Code.
59
Art. 1574, Civil Code.
60
Art. 1575, Civil Code.
 CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES 507

A contract of sale of animals shall also be void if the use

or service for which they are acquired has been stated in the
contract and they are found to be unfit therefor.61

c. Prescriptive Period
The redhibitory action, based on the faults or defects of
animals, must be brought within forty (40) days from the date of
their delivery to the buyer.62
If the animal should die within three (3) days after its
purchase, the vendor shall be liable if the disease which cause
the death existed at the time of the contract.63
When the buyer returns the objects bought and demands
the payment of the purchase price, he is in effect “withdrawing
from the contract” as provided in Article 1567, where the
prescriptive period is six (6) months from the delivery of the
thing sold.64

d. Obligation of Buyer to Return

If the sale be rescinded, the animal shall be returned in the
condition in which it was sold and delivered, the buyer being
answerable for any injury due to his negligence, and not arising
from the redhibitory fault or defect.65

e. Remedies of Buyer
In the sale of animals with redhibitory defects, the buyer
may also elect between withdrawing from the contract and
demanding a proportionate reduction of the price, with damages
in either case; but he must make use thereof within the same
period which has been fixed for the exercise of the redhibitory
action.66

61
Art. 1575, Civil Code.
62
Art. 1577, Civil Code.
63
Art. 1578, Civil Code.
64
Diño v. Court of Appeals, 359 SCRA 91 (2001).
65
Art. 1579, Civil Code .
66
Art. 1580, Civil Code.
508 LAW ON SALES

IMPLIED WARRANTIES IN SALE OF GOODS

1. Warranty as to Fitness or Quality
Under Article 1562 of the Civil Code, in a sale of goods, there
is an implied warranty or condition as to the quality or fitness of
the goods, as follows:
(a) Where the buyer, expressly or by implication,
makes known to the seller the particular
purpose for which the goods are acquired,
and it appears that the buyer relies on the
seller’s skill or judgment (whether he be the
grower or manufacturer or not), there is an
implied warranty that the goods shall be
reasonably fit for such purpose;
(b) Where the goods are bought by description
from a seller who deals in goods of that
description (whether he be the grower or
manufacturer or not), there is an implied
warranty that the goods shall be of mer-
chantable quality.
An implied warranty or condition as to the quality or fitness for
a particular purpose may be annexed by the usage of trade.67
In the case of contract of sale of a specified article under its
patent or other trade name, there is no warranty as to its fitness
for any particular purpose, unless there is a stipulation to the
contrary.68

a. Requisites for Breach of Warranty to Apply

Nutrimix Feeds Corp. v. Court of Appeals,69 which covered
a contract of sale of animal feeds, described the requisites to be
established for breach of the implied warranty that the goods sold
are reasonably fit and suitable to be used for the purpose which
both parties contemplated, thus:

67
Art. 1564, Civil Code.
68
Art. 1563, Civil Code.
69
441 SCRA 357 (2004).
 CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES 509

(a) That the buyer sustained injury because of

the product;
(b) That the injury occurred because the
product was defective or unreasonably
unsafe; and
(c) The defect existed when the product left the
hands of the seller.
Nutrimix Feeds Corp. also held that a manufacturer or
seller of a product cannot be held liable for any damage allegedly
caused by the product in the absence of any proof that the product
in question is defective; that the defect must be present upon
the delivery or manufacture of the product, or when the product
left the manufacturer’s or seller’s, or when the product was sold
to the purchaser; or the product must have reached the user or
consumer without substantial change in the condition it was sold.

b. Measure of Damage In Case of Breach of

Warranty on Quality
In the case of breach of warranty of quality, such loss, in the
absence of special circumstances showing proximate damage
of a greater amount, is the difference between the value of the
goods at the time of delivery to the buyer and the value they
would have had if they had answered to the warranty.70

2. Sale of Goods by Sample and/or by Description

In the case of a contract of sale by sample, if the seller
is a dealer in goods of that kind, there is an implied warranty
that the goods shall be free from any defect rendering them
unmerchantable which would not be apparent on reasonable
examination of the sample.71
Mendoza v. David,72 held that in a sale by sample, there is
an implied warranty that the goods shall be free from any defect

70
Art. 1599, Civil Code.
71
Art. 1565, Civil Code.
72
441 SCRA 172 (2004).
510 LAW ON SALES

which is not apparent or reasonable upon examination of the

sample and which would render the goods unmerchantable.
On the other hand, in a sale of goods by description,
Mendoza held that a “seller’s description of the goods which is
made part of the basis of the transaction creates a warranty that
the goods will conform to that description. Where the goods are
bought by description from a seller who deals in the goods of that
description, there is an implied warranty that the goods are of
mechantable quality.”73

3. Buyer’s Option in Case of Breach of Warranty

Under Article 1599 of the Civil Code, where there is a breach
of warranty by the seller in the sale of goods, the buyer may, at
his election, avail of the following remedies:
(a) Accept or keep the goods and set up against
the seller, the breach of warranty by way of
recoupment in diminution or extinction of
the price;
(b) Accept or keep the goods and maintain an
action against the seller for damages;
(c) Refuse to accept the goods, and maintain
an action against the seller for damages;
(d) Rescind the contract of sale and refuse
to receive the goods or if the goods have
already been received, return them or offer
to return them to the seller and recover the
price or any part thereof which has been
paid.
When the buyer has claimed and been granted a remedy in
any of these ways, no other remedy can thereafter be granted,
without prejudice to the buyer’s right to rescind, even if previously
he has chosen specific performance when fulfillment has become
impossible.74
73
Ibid, at p. 185.
74
Art. 1191, second paragraph, Civil Code.
 CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES 511

4. Waiver of Remedies by Buyer

When goods have been delivered to the buyer, he cannot
rescind the sale if he knew of the breach of warranty when he
accepted the goods without protest, or if he fails to notify the seller
within a reasonable time of the election to rescind, or if he fails to
return or to offer to return the goods to the seller in substantially
as good condition as they were in at the time the ownership was
transferred to the buyer. But if deterioration or injury of the goods
is due to the breach of warranty, such deterioration or injury shall
not prevent the buyer from returning or offering to return the
goods to the seller and rescinding the sale.75

5. Obligation of Buyer on the Price

Where the buyer is entitled to rescind the sale and elects to
do so, he shall cease to be liable for the price upon returning or
offering to return the goods.
If the price or any part thereof has already been paid, the
seller shall be liable to repay so much thereof as has been paid,
concurrently with the return of the goods, or immediately after
an offer to return the goods in exchange for repayment of the
price.76

6. Refusal of Seller to Accept Return of Goods

Where the buyer is entitled to rescind the sale and elects
to do so, and the seller refuses to accept an offer of the buyer to
return the goods, the buyer shall thereafter be deemed to hold
the goods as bailee for the seller, but subject to a lien to secure
payment of any portion of the price which has been paid, and
with the remedies for the enforcement of such lien allowed to an
unpaid seller by Article 1526 of the Civil Code.77

75
Art. 1599, Civil Code.
76
Art. 1599, Civil Code.
77
Art. 1599, Civil Code.
512 LAW ON SALES

ADDITIONAL TERMS OF WARRANTIES FOR CONSUMER GOODS

The term “consumer products” is defined under Article 4(q) of
the Consumer Act of the Philippines,78 to cover goods “which are
primarily for personal, family, household or agricultural purposes,
which shall include but not limited to, food, drugs, cosmetics, and
devices.”
Article 68 of the Consumer Act provides that when the seller
or manufacturer gives an express warranty, it shall be operative
from the moment of sale, and consequently such seller or
manufacture shall:
(a) Set forth the terms of warranty in clear
and readily understandable language and
clearly identify himself as the warrantor;
(b) Identify the party to whom the warranty is
extended;
(c) State the products or parts covered;
(d) State what the warrantor will do in the
event of a defect, malfunction or failure
to conform to the written warranty and at
whose expense;
(e) State what the consumer must do to avail
of the rights which accrue to the warranty;
and
(f) Stipulate the period within which, after
notice of defect, malfunction or failure to
conform to the warranty, the warrantor
will perform any obligation under the
warranty.

1. Subsidiary Liability of Retailer

The retailer shall be subsidiarily liable under the warranty in
case of failure of both the manufacturer and distributor to honor

78
Rep. Act No. 7394.
 CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES 513

the warranty, and that in such case the retailer shall shoulder the
expenses and costs necessary to honor the warranty.
The remedy of the retailer in such case would be to proceed
against the distributor or manufacturer.79

2. Enforcement of Warranty
The warranty rights can be enforced by presentment to the
immediate seller either the warranty card or the official receipt
along with the product to be serviced or returned to the immediate
seller. No other documentary requirement shall be demanded
from the purchaser.80

3. Duration of Warranty
The seller and the consumer may stipulate the period
within which the express warranty shall be enforceable. But if
the implied warranty on merchantability accompanies an express
warranty, both will be of equal duration.
Any other implied warranty shall endure not less than sixty
(60) days nor more than one (1) year following the sale of new
consumer products.81

4. Breach of Warranties
In case of breach of express warranty, the consumer may
elect to have the goods repaired or its purchase price refunded
by the warrantor.
In case the repair of the product in whole or in part is
elected, the warranty work must be made to conform to the
express warranty within thirty (30) days by either the warrantor
or his representative.
The thirty-day period, however, may be extended by
conditions which are beyond the control of the warrantor or his
representatives.
79
Art. 68, Rep. Act 7394.
80
Ibid.
81
Ibid.
514 LAW ON SALES

In case the refund of the purchase price is elected, the

amount directly attributable to the use of the consumer prior to
the discovery of the non-conformity shall be deducted.82
In case of breach of implied warranty, the consumer may
retain the goods and recover damages, or reject the goods,
cancel the contract and recover from the seller so much of the
purchase price as has been paid, including damages.83

5. Contrary Stipulations
All covenants, stipulations or agreements contrary to the
provisions of Article 68 are specifically declared null and void,
and without legal effect.

—oOo—

82
Ibid.
83
Ibid.