Civil Code of the Philippines

Article 1

This Act shall be known as the "Civil Code of the Philippines."

Article 2

Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion of their publication either in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines, unless it is otherwise provided. This Code shall take effect one year after such publication.

Article 3

Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith.

Article 4

Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is provided.

Article 5

Acts executed against the provisions of mandatory or prohibitory laws shall be void, except when the law itself authorizes their validity.

Article 6

Rights may be waived, unless the waiver is contrary to law, public order, public policy, morals, or good customs, or prejudicial to a third person with a right recognized by law.

Article 7

Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their violation or non-observance shall not be excused by disuse, or custom or practice to the contrary. / When the courts declared a law to be inconsistent with the Constitution, the former shall be void and the latter shall govern. / Administrative or executive acts, orders and regulations shall be valid only when they are not contrary to the laws or the Constitution.

Article 8

Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution shall form a part of the legal system of the Philippines.

Article 9

No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the laws.

Article 10

In case of doubt in the interpretation or application of laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail.

Article 11

Customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall not be countenanced.

Article 12

A custom must be proved as a fact, according to the rules of evidence.

Article 13

When the laws speak of years, months, days or nights, it shall be understood that years are of three hundred sixty-five days each; months, of thirty days; days, of twenty-four hours; and nights from sunset to sunrise. / If months are designated by their name, they shall be computed by the number of days which they respectively have. / In computing a period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last day included.

Article 14

Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in Philippine territory, subject to the principles of public international law and to treaty stipulations.

Article 15

Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad.

Article 19

Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith.

Article 20

Every person who, contrary to law, willfully or negligently causes damage to another, shall indemnify the latter for the same.

Article 21

Any person who willfully causes loss or injury to another in manner that is contrary to morals, good customs or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.

Article 22

Every person who through an act of performance by another, or any other means, acquires or comes into possession of something at the expense of the latter without just or legal ground, shall return the same to him.

Article 37

Juridical capacity, which is the fitness to be the subject of legal relations, is inherent in every natural person and is lost only through death. Capacity to act, which is the power to do acts with legal effect, is acquired and may be lost.

Article 38

Minority, insanity or imbecility, the state of being a deaf-mute, prodigality and civil interdiction are mere restrictions on capacity to act, and do not exempt the incapacitated person from certain obligations, as when the latter arise from his acts or from property relations, such as easements.

Article 39

The following circumstances, among others, modify or limit capacity to act: age, insanity, imbecility, the state of being a deaf-mute, penalty, prodigality, family relations, alienage, absence, insolvency and trusteeship. The consequences of these circumstances are governed in this Code, other codes, the Rules of Court, and in special laws. Capacity to act is not limited on account of religious belief or political opinion. A married woman, twenty-one years of age or over, is qualified for all acts of civil life, except in cases specified by law.

Article 40

Birth determines personality; but the conceived child shall be considered born for all purposes that are favorable to it, provided it be born later with the conditions specified in the following article.

Article 41

For civil purposes, the foetus is considered born if it is alive at the time it is completely delivered from the mother's womb. However, if the foetus had an intra-uterine life of less than seven months, it is not deemed born if it dies within twenty-four hours after its complete delivery from the maternal womb.

Article 42

Civil personality is extinguished by death. / The effect of death upon the rights and obligations of the deceased is determined by law, by contract and by will.

Article 43

If there is a doubt, as between two or more persons who are called to succeed each other, as to which of them died first, whoever alleges the death of one prior to the other, shall prove the same; in the absence of proof, it is presumed that they died at the same time and there shall be no transmission of rights from one to the other.

Article 44

The following are juridical persons: (1) The State and its political subdivisions; (2) Other corporations, institutions and entities for public interest or purpose, created by law; their personality begins as soon as they have been constituted according to law; (3) Corporations, partnerships and associations for private interest or purpose to which the law grants a juridical personality, separate and distinct from that of each shareholder, partner or member.