Civil Code Provisions (Conflict of Laws)

Art. 14. Penal laws and those of public security and safety
shall be obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in the
Philippine territory, subject to the principles of public
international law and to treaty stipulations. (8a)
Art. 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.
Art. 16. Real property as well as personal property is
subject to the law of the country where it is stipulated.
Art. 45. Juridical persons mentioned in Nos. 1 and 2 of the
preceding article are governed by the laws creating or
recognizing them.
Private corporations are regulated by laws of general
application on the subject.
Partnerships and associations for private interest or purpose
are governed by the provisions of this Code concerning
partnerships. (36 and 37a)
Art. 46. Juridical persons may acquire and possess property of
all kinds, as well as incur obligations and bring civil or
criminal actions, in conformity with the laws and regulations
of their organization. (38a)
Art. 47. Upon the dissolution of corporations, institutions
and other entities for public interest or purpose mentioned in
No. 2 of Article 44, their property and other assets shall be
disposed of in pursuance of law or the charter creating them.
If nothing has been specified on this point, the property and
other assets shall be applied to similar purposes for the
benefit of the region, province, city or municipality which
during the existence of the institution derived the principal
benefits from the same.
Art. 49. Naturalization and the loss and reacquisition of
citizenship of the Philippines are governed by special
laws. (n)
Art. 50. For the exercise of civil rights and the fulfillment
of civil obligations, the domicile of natural persons is the
place of their habitual residence. (40a)
Art. 51. When the law creating or recognizing them, or any
other provision does not fix the domicile of juridical
persons, the same shall be understood to be the place where
their legal representation is established or where they
exercise their principal functions. (41a)
Art. 314. A foundling shall be under the parental authority of
the person or institution that has reared the same.
Art. 732. Donations which are to take effect inter vivos shall
be governed by the general provisions on contracts and
obligations in all that is not determined in this Title. (621)
Art. 733. Donations with an onerous cause shall be governed by
the rules on contracts and remuneratory donations by the
provisions of the present Title as regards that portion which
exceeds the value of the burden imposed.
Art. 735. All persons who may contract and dispose of their
property may make a donation.
Art. 737. The donor's capacity shall be determined as of the
time of the making of the donation.
Art. 740. Incapacity to succeed by will shall be applicable to
donations inter vivos.
Art. 742. Donations made to conceived and unborn children may
be accepted by those persons who would legally represent them
if they were already born.
Art. 748. The donation of a movable may be made orally or in
writing.
An oral donation requires the simultaneous delivery of the
thing or of the document representing the right donated.
If the value of the personal property donated exceeds five
thousand pesos, the donation and the acceptance shall be made
in writing, otherwise, the donation shall be void. (632a)
Art. 749. In order that the donation of an immovable may be
valid, it must be made in a public document, specifying
therein the property donated and the value of the charges
which the donee must satisfy.
Art. 753. When a donation is made to several persons jointly,
it is understood to be in equal shares, and there shall be no
right of accretion among them, unless the donor has otherwise
provided.
Art. 765. The donation may also be revoked at the instance of
the donor, by reason of ingratitude in the following cases:
(1) If the donee should commit some offense against the
person, the honor or the property of the donor, or of his wife
or children under his parental authority;
(2) If the donee imputes to the donor any criminal offense, or
any act involving moral turpitude, even though he should prove
it, unless the crime or the act has been committed against the
donee himself, his wife or children under his authority;
(3) If he unduly refuses him support when the donee is legally
or morally bound to give support to the donor.
Art. 795. The validity of a will as to its form depends upon
the observance of the law in force at the time it is made.
Art. 796. All persons who are not expressly prohibited by law
may make a will.
Art. 815. When a Filipino is in a foreign country, he is
authorized to make a will in any of the forms established by
the law of the country in which he may be. Such will may be
probated in the Philippines. (n)
Art. 816. The will of an alien who is abroad produces effect
in the Philippines if made with the formalities prescribed by
the law of the place in which he resides, or according to the
formalities observed in his country, or in conformity with
those which this Code prescribes.
Art. 817. A will made in the Philippines by a citizen or
subject of another country, which is executed in accordance
with the law of the country of which he is a citizen or
subject, and which might be proved and allowed by the law of
his own country, shall have the same effect as if executed
according to the laws of the Philippines. (n)
Art. 819. Wills, prohibited by the preceding article, executed
by Filipinos in a foreign country shall not be valid in the
Philippines, even though authorized by the laws of the country
where they may have been executed.
Art. 829. A revocation done outside the Philippines, by a
person who does not have his domicile in this country, is
valid when it is done according to the law of the place where
the will was made, or according to the law of the place in
which the testator had his domicile at the time; and if the
revocation takes place in this country, when it is in
accordance with the provisions of this Code.
Art. 842. One who has no compulsory heirs may dispose by will
of all his estate or any part of it in favor of any person
having capacity to succeed.
One who has compulsory heirs may dispose of his estate
provided he does not contravene the provisions of this Code
with regard to the legitime of said heirs. (763a)
Art. 978. Succession pertains, in the first place, to the
descending direct line.
Art. 1024. Persons not incapacitated by law may succeed by
will or ab intestato.
The provisions relating to incapacity by will are equally
applicable to intestate succession. (744, 914)
Art. 1025. In order to be capacitated to inherit, the heir,
devisee or legatee must be living at the moment the succession
opens, except in case of representation, when it is proper.
A child already conceived at the time of the death of the
decedent is capable of succeeding provided it be born later
under the conditions prescribed in article 41
Art. 1027. The following are incapable of succeeding:
(1) The priest who heard the confession of the testator during
his last illness, or the minister of the gospel who extended
spiritual aid to him during the same period;
(2) The relatives of such priest or minister of the gospel
within the fourth degree, the church, order, chapter,
community, organization, or institution to which such priest
or minister may belong;
(3) A guardian with respect to testamentary dispositions given
by a ward in his favor before the final accounts of the
guardianship have been approved, even if the testator should
die after the approval thereof; nevertheless, any provision
made by the ward in favor of the guardian when the latter is
his ascendant, descendant, brother, sister, or spouse, shall
be valid;
(4) Any attesting witness to the execution of a will, the
spouse, parents, or children, or any one claiming under such
witness, spouse, parents, or children;
(5) Any physician, surgeon, nurse, health officer or druggist
who took care of the testator during his last illness;
(6) Individuals, associations and corporations not permitted
by law to inherit. (745, 752, 753, 754a)
Art. 1032. The following are incapable of succeeding by reason
of unworthiness:
(1) Parents who have abandoned their children or induced their
daughters to lead a corrupt or immoral life, or attempted
against their virtue;
(2) Any person who has been convicted of an attempt against
the life of the testator, his or her spouse, descendants, or
ascendants;
(3) Any person who has accused the testator of a crime for
which the law prescribes imprisonment for six years or more,
if the accusation has been found groundless;
(4) Any heir of full age who, having knowledge of the violent
death of the testator, should fail to report it to an officer
of the law within a month, unless the authorities have already
taken action; this prohibition shall not apply to cases
wherein, according to law, there is no obligation to make an
accusation;
(5) Any person convicted of adultery or concubinage with the
spouse of the testator;
(6) Any person who by fraud, violence, intimidation, or undue
influence should cause the testator to make a will or to
change one already made;
(7) Any person who by the same means prevents another from
making a will, or from revoking one already made, or who
supplants, conceals, or alters the latter's will;
(8) Any person who falsifies or forges a supposed will of the
decedent.
Art. 1036. Alienations of hereditary property, and acts of
administration performed by the excluded heir, before the
judicial order of exclusion, are valid as to the third persons
who acted in good faith; but the co-heirs shall have a right
to recover damages from the disqualified heir.
Art. 1051. The repudiation of an inheritance shall be made in
a public or authentic instrument, or by petition presented to
the court having jurisdiction over the testamentary or
intestate proceedings.
Art. 1058. All matters relating to the appointment, powers and
duties of executors and administrators and concerning the
administration of estates of deceased persons shall be
governed by the Rules of Court.
Art. 1306. The contracting parties may establish such
stipulations, clauses, terms and conditions as they may deem
convenient, provided they are not contrary to law, morals,
good customs, public order, or public policy.
Art. 1311. Contracts take effect only between the parties,
their assigns and heirs, except in case where the rights and
obligations arising from the contract are not transmissible by
their nature, or by stipulation or by provision of law. The
heir is not liable beyond the value of the property he
received from the decedent.
If a contract should contain some stipulation in favor of a
third person, he may demand its fulfillment provided he
communicated his acceptance to the obligor before its
revocation. A mere incidental benefit or interest of a person
is not sufficient. The contracting parties must have clearly
and deliberately conferred a favor upon a third person.
Art. 1317. No one may contract in the name of another without
being authorized by the latter, or unless he has by law a
right to represent him.
A contract entered into in the name of another by one who has
no authority or legal representation, or who has acted beyond
his powers, shall be unenforceable, unless it is ratified,
expressly or impliedly, by the person on whose behalf it has
been executed, before it is revoked by the other contracting
party. (1259a)
Art. 1319. Consent is manifested by the meeting of the offer
and the acceptance upon the thing and the cause which are to
constitute the contract. The offer must be certain and the
acceptance absolute. A qualified acceptance constitutes a
counter-offer.
Acceptance made by letter or telegram does not bind the
offerer except from the time it came to his knowledge. The
contract, in such a case, is presumed to have been entered
into in the place where the offer was made.
Art. 1327. The following cannot give consent to a contract:
(1) Unemancipated minors;
(2) Insane or demented persons, and deaf-mutes who do not know
how to write.
Art. 1356. Contracts shall be obligatory, in whatever form
they may have been entered into, provided all the essential
requisites for their validity are present. However, when the
law requires that a contract be in some form in order that it
may be valid or enforceable, or that a contract be proved in a
certain way, that requirement is absolute and indispensable.
In such cases, the right of the parties stated in the
following article cannot be exercised. (1278a)
Art. 1357. If the law requires a document or other special
form, as in the acts and contracts enumerated in the following
article, the contracting parties may compel each other to
observe that form, once the contract has been perfected. This
right may be exercised simultaneously with the action upon the
contract. (1279a)
Art. 1358. The following must appear in a public document:
(1) Acts and contracts which have for their object the
creation, transmission, modification or extinguishment of real
rights over immovable property; sales of real property or of
an interest therein a governed by Articles 1403, No. 2, and
1405;
(2) The cession, repudiation or renunciation of hereditary
rights or of those of the conjugal partnership of gains;
(3) The power to administer property, or any other power which
has for its object an act appearing or which should appear in
a public document, or should prejudice a third person;
(4) The cession of actions or rights proceeding from an act
appearing in a public document.
All other contracts where the amount involved exceeds five
hundred pesos must appear in writing, even a private one. But
sales of goods, chattels or things in action are governed by
Articles, 1403, No. 2 and 1405.
Art. 1376. The usage or custom of the place shall be borne in
mind in the interpretation of the ambiguities of a contract,
and shall fill the omission of stipulations which are
ordinarily established.
Art. 1403. The following contracts are unenforceable, unless
they are ratified:
(1) Those entered into in the name of another person by one
who has been given no authority or legal representation, or
who has acted beyond his powers;
(2) Those that do not comply with the Statute of Frauds as set
forth in this number. In the following cases an agreement
hereafter made shall be unenforceable by action, unless the
same, or some note or memorandum, thereof, be in writing, and
subscribed by the party charged, or by his agent; evidence,
therefore, of the agreement cannot be received without the
writing, or a secondary evidence of its contents:
(a) An agreement that by its terms is not to be performed
within a year from the making thereof;
(b) A special promise to answer for the debt, default, or
miscarriage of another;
(c) An agreement made in consideration of marriage, other than
a mutual promise to marry;
(d) An agreement for the sale of goods, chattels or things in
action, at a price not less than five hundred pesos, unless
the buyer accept and receive part of such goods and chattels,
or the evidences, or some of them, of such things in action or
pay at the time some part of the purchase money; but when a
sale is made by auction and entry is made by the auctioneer in
his sales book, at the time of the sale, of the amount and
kind of property sold, terms of sale, price, names of the
purchasers and person on whose account the sale is made, it is
a sufficient memorandum;
(e) An agreement of the leasing for a longer period than one
year, or for the sale of real property or of an interest
therein;
(f) A representation as to the credit of a third person.
(3) Those where both parties are incapable of giving consent
to a contract.
Art. 1489. All persons who are authorized in this Code to
obligate themselves, may enter into a contract of sale, saving
the modifications contained in the following articles.
Where necessaries are those sold and delivered to a minor or
other person without capacity to act, he must pay a reasonable
price therefor. Necessaries are those referred to in Article
290. (1457a)
Art. 1646. The persons disqualified to buy referred to in
Articles 1490 and 1491, are also disqualified to become
lessees of the things mentioned therein.
Art. 1878. Special powers of attorney are necessary in the
following cases:
(1) To make such payments as are not usually considered as
acts of administration;
(2) To effect novations which put an end to obligations
already in existence at the time the agency was constituted;
(3) To compromise, to submit questions to arbitration, to
renounce the right to appeal from a judgment, to waive
objections to the venue of an action or to abandon a
prescription already acquired;
(4) To waive any obligation gratuitously;
(5) To enter into any contract by which the ownership of an
immovable is transmitted or acquired either gratuitously or
for a valuable consideration;
(6) To make gifts, except customary ones for charity or those
made to employees in the business managed by the agent;
(7) To loan or borrow money, unless the latter act be urgent
and indispensable for the preservation of the things which are
under administration;
(8) To lease any real property to another person for more than
one year;
(9) To bind the principal to render some service without
compensation;
(10) To bind the principal in a contract of partnership;
(11) To obligate the principal as a guarantor or surety;
(12) To create or convey real rights over immovable property;
(13) To accept or repudiate an inheritance;
(14) To ratify or recognize obligations contracted before the
agency;
(15) Any other act of strict dominion. (n)

Art. 2035. No compromise upon the following questions shall be