The Civil Code of the Philippines is the product of the
codification of
private law in the
Philippines. It is the general law that governs
family and
property relations
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
in the Philippines. It was enacted in 1950, and remains in force to date with some significant
amendments An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...
.
History
The Philippine Civil Code is strongly influenced by the
Spanish Civil Code
The Civil Code of Spain ( es, Código Civil), formally the Royal Decree of 24 July 1889 ( es, Real Decreto de 24 de julio de 1889) is the law that regulates the major aspects of Spanish civil law. It is one of the last civil codes in Continental ...
, which was first enforced in 1889 within the Philippines when it was still a
colony
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
of the
Spanish Empire. The ''Código Civil'' remained in effect even throughout the
American Occupation; by 1940, the
Commonwealth Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
of
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Manuel Luis Quezon
Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, (; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his de ...
formed a Commission tasked with drafting a new Code. The Commission was initially headed by
Chief Justice Ramón Avanceña
Ramón Avanceña y Quiosay (April 13, 1872 – June 12, 1957) was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He served from 1925 to 1941, when he resigned at the beginning of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during Wo ...
, but its work was interrupted by the
Japanese invasion and the
Second World War. The Commission's records were later destroyed by Allied bombing during the
Battle of Manila in 1945.
In 1947,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Manuel Roxas of the
Third Republic created a new Code Commission, this time headed by the former
Dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles ...
of the
University of the Philippines College of Law
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, l ...
,
Jorge Bocobo
Jorge is a Spanish and Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker".
The Latin form ''Georgius'' ...
. Among the members of this new Commission were future
Supreme Court Associate Justice
Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...
Francisco R. Capistrano, and future
senator Arturo Tolentino
Arturo "Ka Turing" Modesto Tolentino (September 19, 1910 – August 2, 2004) was a Filipino politician and diplomat who served as the Senate president and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He ran as the vice-presidential running mate of Ferdi ...
. The Code Commission completed the final draft of the new Civil Code by December 1947, and this was submitted to
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, which enacted it into law through
Republic Act
This article contains a partial list of Philippine laws.
Sources of Philippine laws
;Notes
: *Customs may be considered as supplementary source of law, however, customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall not be ...
No. 386. The Civil Code took effect in 1950.
Due to its wide coverage and impact, the Civil Code is the subject of much study and extensive commentary. Several legal luminaries developed reputations as experts on the Civil Code and consequently enhanced their reputations in the field of Philippine law. These include Tolentino, who himself had helped draft it,
Supreme Court Associate Justices J. B. L. Reyes,
Flérida Ruth P. Romero, José Vitug, and Edgardo Paras.
Content
The influence of the Spanish Civil Code is most evident in the books on
property, succession and
obligations
An obligation is a course of action that someone is required to take, whether legal or moral. Obligations are constraints; they limit freedom. People who are under obligations may choose to freely act under obligations. Obligation exists when ther ...
and
contracts. The law on succession, for example, retains such concepts indigenous to
Spain such as the rule on
legitime
In civil law and Roman law, the legitime (''legitima portio''), also known as a forced share or legal right share, of a decedent's estate is that portion of the estate from which he cannot disinherit his children, or his parents, without suffic ...
s and ''
reserva troncal''. On the other hand, many of the provisions on special contracts, particularly on
sales, are derived from
common law as practised in the
United States, reflecting the influence of American colonial rule and the influx of commercial relations involving
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
s at the time.
The great mass of disputes between private persons over civil and property relations are resolved by applying the provisions of the Civil Code. With over 2,000 specific provisions, the Civil Code attempts to anticipate all possible questions arising from civil and property relations and prescribe a definitive solution for these problems. Understandably, the Civil Code itself is unable to provide a definite answer for all emerging problems; thus the courts also rely on
precedent based on interpretations by the
Supreme Court. This the Civil Code itself notably recognises in saying that "
dicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution shall form a part of the legal system of the Philippines" (''Article 8, Civil Code''), a recognition of the eminent role now played by precedents in Philippine law. The Civil Code is divided into four “books”, with each specific book namely:
Persons and Family relations
The Chapter 2 of the Civil code was formulated to indicate certain norms that spring from the fountain of good conscience, that will serve as golden threads through society to the end of that law may approach its supreme ideal which is sway and dominance of justice, the primary precept of this portion is derived from
Justinian's ''Institutes'': ''iuris praecepta sunt haec: honeste vivere, alterum non laedere, suum cuique tribuere''. (Inst. 1,1,3-4). (Translated into English: “the precepts of law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one,
ndto give to each his own.”). Civil personality defines the distinction between
natural
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...
and
juridical persons, as well as the difference between
juridical capacity and
capacity to act.
::*Effect and Application of Laws
::*Human relations
::*Civil Personality
::*Citizenship and Domicile
::*Funerals
::*Care and Education of Children
::*Use of Surnames
::*Absence
::*Civil Register
The Family Code of 1988
In 1987,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Corazon Aquino
Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People ...
enacted into law The Family Code of 1987, which was intended to supplant Book I of the Civil Code concerning persons and family relations. Work on the Family Code had begun as early as 1979, and it had been drafted by two successive committees, the first chaired by future Supreme Court Justice Romero, and the second chaired by former Supreme Court Justice J.B.L. Reyes. The Civil Code needed amendment via the Family Code in order to alter certain provisions derived from foreign sources which had proven unsuitable to
Filipino culture
The culture of the Philippines is characterized by cultural diversity. Although the multiple ethnic groups of the Philippine archipelago have only recently established a shared Filipino national identity, their cultures were all shaped by the ...
and to attune it to contemporary developments and trends.
The Family Code covers fields of significant public interest, especially the laws on
marriage. The definition and requisites for marriage, along with the grounds for
annulment
Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...
, are found in the Family Code, as is the law on conjugal property relations, rules on establishing
filiation, and the governing provisions on
support
Support may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Supporting character
Business and finance
* Support (technical analysis)
* Child support
* Customer support
* Income Support
Construction
* Support (structure), or lateral support, a ...
,
parental authority
Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a bio ...
, and
adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...
.
::*Marriage
::*
Legal separation
::*Spousal rights and obligations
::*
Marital property schemes
::*The Family
::*Paternity and filiation
::*Adoption
::*Maintenance (e.g.
alimony
Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial sup ...
,
child support
Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...
)
::*Parental authority
::*Emancipation and
age of majority
The age of majority is the threshold of legal adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when minors cease to be considered such and assume legal control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the contro ...
::*Summary judicial proceedings in family law
Property, Ownership and its Modifications
Focuses on property, which classifies and defines the different kinds of approporiable objects, provides for their acquisitions and loss and treats the nature and consequences of real right. Ownership is independent and general right of the person to control a thing particularly in his possession, enjoyment, disposition, and recovery, subject to no restrictions except those imposed by the state or private persons, without prejudice to the provisions of the law. .
::*Classification of Property
::*Ownership
::*Co-Ownership
::*Special Properties
::*Possession
::*Usufruct
::*Easement and Servitudes
::*Nuissance
::*Registry of Property
Modes of Acquiring Ownership
Ownership is acquired by occupation and by intellectual creation. Ownership and other real rights over property are acquired and transmitted by law, by donation, by testate and intestate succession, and in consequence of certain contracts by tradition. They may be also acquired by acquisitive prescription.
::*Occupation
::*Intellectual creation
::*Donation
::*Succession
::*Acquisitive prescription
Obligations and Contracts
Law of obligations is defined as juridical necessity to give, to do or not do. A contract is a meeting of the minds between two persons whereby one binds himself with respect to the other to give something or to render some service
::*Obligations
::*Contracts
::*Special contracts encompasses several classes of contracts as
trusts
A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "sett ...
,
sales,
barter
In trade, barter (derived from ''baretor'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists distingu ...
,
lease,
loan,
deposit,
aleatory contract An aleatory contract is a contract where an uncertain event determines the parties' rights and obligations. For example, gambling, wagering, or betting typically use aleatory contracts. Additionally, another very common type of aleatory contract is ...
s, compromises,
guaranty
Guarantee is a legal term more comprehensive and of higher import than either warranty or "security". It most commonly designates a private transaction by means of which one person, to obtain some trust, confidence or credit for another, engages ...
,
agency
Agency may refer to:
Organizations
* Institution, governmental or others
** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients
** Employment agency, a business that ...
,
pledge
Pledge may refer to:
Promises
* a solemn promise
* Abstinence pledge, a commitment to practice abstinence, usually teetotalism or chastity
* The Pledge (New Hampshire), a promise about taxes by New Hampshire politicians
* Pledge of Allegianc ...
s,
mortgage
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any p ...
,
antichresis, and
partnership
::*
Quasi-contract
::*
Quasi-delict ''Quasi-delict'' is a French legal term used in some civil law jurisdictions, encompassing the common law concept of ''negligence'' as the breach of a non-wilful extra-contractual obligation to third parties.
References
See also
* Law of Obliga ...
Torts and Damages
Developments in torts and damages law in the Philippines are mostly guided by judicial
precedents. However, the Civil Code does provide several pertinent provisions regarding
quasi-delict ''Quasi-delict'' is a French legal term used in some civil law jurisdictions, encompassing the common law concept of ''negligence'' as the breach of a non-wilful extra-contractual obligation to third parties.
References
See also
* Law of Obliga ...
s, as well as provisions on damages. Damages can be incurred when there is harm done and what may be recovered arising from wrongful, unwrongful and tortuous act. Damages can be actual or compensatory, moral, nominal, temperate or moderate, liquidated and exemplary or corrective.
See also
*
Philippine legal codes
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Civil Code of the Philippines- ''fro
The Corpus Juris'
- ''fro
The Corpus Juris'
{{Civil codes by country, Asia
Law of the Philippines
Philippine
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
Philippines
Presidency of Elpidio Quirino