unless by their act or omission they are

deemed, under the law to have renounced

it.
Section 5. Dual allegiance of citizens is
inimical to the national interest and shall
be dealt with by law.
CIVIL CODE

CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE IV
CITIZENSHIP
Section 1. The following are citizens of the
Philippines:
1. Those who are citizens of the
Philippines at the time of the
adoption of this Constitution;
2. Those whose fathers or mothers are
citizens of the Philippines;
3. Those born before January 17,
1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect
Philippine
Citizenship
upon
reaching the age of majority; and
4. Those who are naturalized in the
accordance with law.
Section 2. Natural-born citizens are those
who are citizens of the Philippines from
birth without having to perform any act to
acquire
or
perfect
their
Philippine
citizenship. Those who elect Philippine
citizenship in accordance with paragraph
(3), Section 1 hereof shall be deemed
natural-born citizens.
Section 3. Philippine citizenship may be
lost or reacquired in the manner provided
by law.
Section 4. Citizens of the Philippines who
marry aliens shall retain their citizenship,

Article 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)
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. (9a)
Article 16. Real property as well as
personal property is subject to the law of
the country where it is stipulated.
However,
intestate
and
testamentary
successions, both with respect to the order
of succession and to the amount of
successional rights and to the intrinsic
validity of testamentary provisions, shall be
regulated by the national law of the person
whose succession is under consideration,
whatever may be the nature of the property
and regardless of the country wherein said
property may be found. (10a)
Article 17. The forms and solemnities of
contracts,
wills,
and
other
public
instruments shall be governed by the laws
of the country in which they are executed.
When the acts referred to are executed
before the diplomatic or consular officials of
the Republic of the Philippines in a foreign
country, the solemnities established by
Philippine laws shall be observed in their
execution.

Prohibitive laws concerning persons, their

acts or property, and those which have for
their object public order, public policy and
good customs shall not be rendered
ineffective
by
laws
or
judgments
promulgated, or by determinations or
conventions agreed upon in a foreign
country. (11a)
SUBSECTION 3. Forms of Wills
Article 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)
Article 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. (n)
Article 818. Two or more persons cannot
make a will jointly, or in the same
instrument, either for their reciprocal
benefit or for the benefit of a third person.
(669)
Article 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. (733a)
SUBSECTION 6. Revocation of Wills and
Testamentary Dispositions
Article 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. (n)
SECTION 2
Capacity to Succeed by Will or by
Intestacy
Article 1039. Capacity to succeed is
governed by the law of the nation of the
decedent. (n)
SECTION 1
Consent
Article 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 counteroffer.
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. (1262a)
SUBSECTION 2. Vigilance Over Goods
Article 1753. The law of the country to
which the goods are to be transported shall
govern the liability of the common carrier
for their loss, destruction or deterioration.
CORPORATION CODE
TITLE XV
FOREIGN CORPORATIONS
Section 123. Definition and rights of foreign
corporations. For the purposes of this
Code, a foreign corporation is one formed,
organized or existing under any laws other
than those of the Philippines and whose

laws
allow
Filipino
citizens
and
corporations to do business in its own
country or state. It shall have the right to
transact business in the Philippines after it
shall have obtained a license to transact
business in this country in accordance with
this Code and a certificate of authority from
the appropriate government agency. (n)
Section 129. Law applicable. Any foreign
corporation lawfully doing business in the
Philippines shall be bound by all laws, rules
and regulations applicable to domestic
corporations of the same class, except such
only as provide for the creation, formation,
organization or dissolution of corporations
or those which fix the relations, liabilities,
responsibilities, or duties of stockholders,
members, or officers of corporations to each
other or to the corporation. (73a)
Section 133. Doing business without a
license. No foreign corporation transacting
business in the Philippines without a
license, or its successors or assigns, shall
be permitted to maintain or intervene in
any action, suit or proceeding in any court
or administrative agency of the Philippines;
but such corporation may be sued or
proceeded against before Philippine courts
or administrative tribunals on any valid
cause of action recognized under Philippine
laws. (69a)
FAMILY CODE
Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage
Art. 10. Marriages between Filipino citizens
abroad may be solemnized by a consulgeneral, consul or vice-consul of the
Republic of the Philippines. The issuance of
the marriage license and the duties of the
local civil registrar and of the solemnizing
officer with regard to the celebration of
marriage shall be performed by said
consular official. (75a)

Art. 21. When either or both of the

contracting parties are citizens of a foreign
country, it shall be necessary for them
before a marriage license can be obtained,
to submit a certificate of legal capacity to
contract
marriage,
issued
by
their
respective diplomatic or consular officials.
Stateless persons or refugees from other
countries shall, in lieu of the certificate of
legal capacity herein required, submit an
affidavit stating the circumstances showing
such capacity to contract marriage. (66a)
Art. 26. All marriages solemnized outside
the Philippines, in accordance with the laws
in force in the country where they were
solemnized, and valid there as such, shall
also be valid in this country, except those
prohibited under Articles 35 (1), (4), (5) and
(6), 3637 and 38. (17a)
Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen
and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a
divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad
by the alien spouse capacitating him or her
to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have
capacity to remarry under Philippine law.
(As amended by Executive Order 227)
Chapter 3. Void and Voidable Marriages
Art. 35. The following marriages shall be
void from the beginning:
(1) Those contracted by any party
below eighteen years of age even
with the consent of parents or
guardians;
(2) Those solemnized by any person
not legally authorized to perform
marriages unless such marriages
were contracted with either or both
parties believing in good faith that
the solemnizing officer had the legal
authority to do so;

(3)
Those
solemnized
without
license, except those covered the
preceding Chapter;
(4) Those bigamous or polygamous
marriages not failing under Article
41;
(5)
Those
contracted
through
mistake of one contracting party as
to the identity of the other; and
(6) Those subsequent marriages that
are void under Article 53.
Art. 36. A marriage contracted by any party
who, at the time of the celebration, was
psychologically incapacitated to comply
with the essential marital obligations of
marriage, shall likewise be void even if such
incapacity becomes manifest only after its
solemnization. (As amended by Executive
Order 227)
Art. 37. Marriages between the following
are incestuous and void from the beginning,
whether relationship between the parties be
legitimate or illegitimate:
(1)
Between
ascendants
and
descendants of any degree; and
(2) Between brothers and sisters,
whether of the full or half blood.
(81a)
Art. 38. The following marriages shall be
void from the beginning for reasons of
public policy:
(1) Between collateral blood relatives
whether legitimate or illegitimate, up
to the fourth civil degree;
(2) Between step-parents and stepchildren;
(3) Between parents-in-law and
children-in-law;
(4) Between the adopting parent and
the adopted child;
(5) Between the surviving spouse of
the adopting parent and the adopted
child;
(6) Between the surviving spouse of
the adopted child and the adopter;

(7) Between an adopted child and a

legitimate child of the adopter;
(8) Between adopted children of the
same adopter; and
(9) Between parties where one, with
the intention to marry the other,
killed that other person's spouse, or
his or her own spouse. (82)
TITLE IV
PROPERTY RELATIONS BETWEEN
HUSBAND AND WIFE
Chapter 1. General Provisions
Art. 80. In the absence of a contrary
stipulation in a marriage settlement, the
property relations of the spouses shall be
governed by Philippine laws, regardless of
the place of the celebration of the marriage
and their residence.
This rule shall not apply:
(1) Where both spouses are aliens;
(2) With respect to the extrinsic
validity
of
contracts
affecting
property not situated in the
Philippines and executed in the
country where the property is
located; and
(3) With respect to the extrinsic
validity of contracts entered into in
the
Philippines
but
affecting
property situated in a foreign
country whose laws require different
formalities for its extrinsic validity.
(124a)
REVISED PENAL CODE
Article 2. Application of its provisions. Except as provided in the treaties and laws
of preferential application, the provisions of
this Code shall be enforced not only within
the Philippine Archipelago, including its
atmosphere, its interior waters and
maritime zone, but also outside of its
jurisdiction, against those who:

1. Should commit an offense while

on a Philippine ship or airship
2. Should forge or counterfeit any
coin or currency note of the
Philippine Islands or obligations and
securities issued by the Government
of the Philippine Islands;
3. Should be liable for acts
connected with the introduction into
these islands of the obligations and
securities
mentioned
in
the
presiding number;
4. While being public officers or
employees,
should
commit
an
offense in the exercise of their
functions; or
5. Should commit any of the crimes
against national security and the
law of nations, defined in Title One
of Book Two of this Code.
RULES OF COURT
RULE 4 Venue of Actions
Section 2. Venue of personal actions. All
other actions may be commenced and tried
where the plaintiff or any of the principal
plaintiffs resides, or where the defendant or
any of the principal defendants resides, or
in the case of a non-resident defendant
where he may be found, at the election of
the plaintiff. (2[b]a)
RULE 8 Manner of Making Allegations in
Pleadings
Section 6. Judgment. In pleading a
judgment or decision of a domestic or
foreign court, judicial or quasi-judicial
tribunal, or of a board or officer, it is
sufficient to aver the judgment or decision
without setting forth matter showing
jurisdiction to render it. (6)
RULE 11 When to File Responsive
Pleadings

Section 2. Answer of a defendant foreign

private juridical entity. Where the
defendant is a foreign private juridical
entity and service of summons is made on
the government official designated by law to
receive the same, the answer shall be filed
within thirty (30) days after receipt of
summons by such entity. (2a)
RULE 14 Summons
Section 12. Service upon foreign private
juridical entities. When the defendant is a
foreign private juridical entity which has
transacted business in the Philippines,
service may be made on its resident agent
designated in accordance with law for that
purpose, or, if there be no such agent, on
the government official designated by law to
that effect, or on any of its officers or
agents within the Philippines. (14a)
Section 14. Service upon defendant whose
identity or whereabouts are unknown. In
any action where the defendant is
designated as an unknown owner, or the
like, or whenever his whereabouts are
unknown and cannot be ascertained by
diligent inquiry, service may, by leave of
court, be effected upon him by publication
in a newspaper of general circulation and in
such places and for such time as the court
may order. (16a)
Section 15. Extraterritorial service.
When the defendant does not reside and is
not found in the Philippines, and the action
affects the personal status of the plaintiff or
relates to, or the subject of which is,
property within the Philippines, in which
the defendant has or claims a lien or
interest, actual or contingent, or in which
the relief demanded consists, wholly or in
part, in excluding the defendant from any
interest therein, or the property of the
defendant has been attached within the

Philippines, service may, by leave of court,

be effected out of the Philippines by
personal service as under section 6; or by
publication in a newspaper of general
circulation in such places and for such time
as the court may order, in which case a
copy of the summons and order of the court
shall be sent by registered mail to the last
known address of the defendant, or in any
other manner the court may deem
sufficient. Any order granting such leave
shall specify a reasonable time, which shall
not be less than sixty (60) days after notice,
within which the defendant must answer.
(17a)
Section 16. Residents temporarily out of the
Philippines. When any action is
commenced against a defendant who
ordinarily resides within the Philippines,
but who is temporarily out of it, service
may, by leave of court, be also effected out
of the Philippines, as under the preceding
section. (18a)
RULE 23 Depositions Pending Action
Section
11.
Persons
before
whom
depositions may be taken in foreign
countries. In a foreign state or country,
depositions may be taken (a) on notice
before a secretary of embassy or legation,
consul general, consul, vice-consul, or
consular agent of the Republic of the
Philippines, (b) before such person or officer
as may be appointed by commission or
under letters rogatory; or (c) the person
referred to in section 14 hereof. (11a, R24)
Section 12. Commission or letters rogatory.
A commission or letters rogatory shall be
issued only when necessary or convenient,
on application and notice, and on such
terms, and with such direction as are just
and
appropriate.
Officers
may
be
designated in notices or commissions either
by name or descriptive title and letters

rogatory may be addressed to the

appropriate judicial authority in the foreign
country. (12a, R24)
RULE 39 Execution, Satisfaction and
Effect of Judgments
Section 48. Effect of foreign judgments or
final orders. The effect of a judgment or
final order of a tribunal of a foreign country,
having jurisdiction to render the judgment
or final order is as follows:
(a) In case of a judgment or final
order upon a specific thing, the
judgment
or
final
order,
is
conclusive upon the title to the
thing, and
(b) In case of a judgment or final
order
against
a
person,
the
judgment
or
final
order
is
presumptive evidence of a right as
between the parties and their
successors
in
interest
by
a
subsequent title.
In either case, the judgment or final order
may be repelled by evidence of a want of
jurisdiction, want of notice to the party,
collusion, fraud, or clear mistake of law or
fact. (50a)
SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS
Settlement Of Estate Of Deceased
Persons
RULE 73 Venue and Process
Section 1. Where estate of deceased
persons settled. If the decedents is an
inhabitant of the Philippines at the time of
his death, whether a citizen or an alien, his
will shall be proved, or letters of
administration granted, and his estate
settled, in the Court of First Instance in the
province in which he resides at the time of
his death, and if he is an inhabitant of a
foreign country, the Court of First Instance
of any province in which he had estate. The

court first taking cognizance of the

settlement of the estate of a decedent, shall
exercise jurisdiction to the exclusion of all
other courts. The jurisdiction assumed by a
court, so far as it depends on the place of
residence of the decedent, or of the location
of his estate, shall not be contested in a suit
or proceeding, except in an appeal from that
court, in the original case, or when the
want of jurisdiction appears on the record.
RULE 77 Allowance of Will Proved
Outside of Philippines and
Administration of Estate Thereunder
Section 1. Will proved outside Philippines
may be allowed here. Wills proved and
allowed in a foreign country, according to
the laws of such country, may be allowed,
filed, and recorded by the proper Court of
First Instance in the Philippines.
General Guardians and Guardianship
RULE 92 Venue
Section 1. Where to institute proceedings.
Guardianship of a person or estate of a
minor or incompetent may be instituted in
the Court of First Instance of the province,
or in the justice of the peace court of the
municipality, or in the municipal court
chartered city where the minor or
incompetent persons resides, and if he
resides in a foreign country, in the Court of
First Instance of the province wherein his
property
or
the
party
thereof
is
situated; provided, however, that where the
value of the property of such minor or
incompetent exceeds that jurisdiction of the
justice of the peace or municipal court, the
proceedings shall be instituted in the Court
of First Instance.
In the City of Manila the proceedings shall
be instituted in the Juvenile and Domestic
Relations Court.

EVIDENCE
RULE 131 Burden
Presumptions

of

Proof

and

Section 3. Disputable presumptions. The

following presumptions are satisfactory if
uncontradicted, but may be contradicted and
overcome by other evidence:
(a) That a person is innocent of crime or
wrong;
(b) That an unlawful act was done with
an unlawful intent;
(c) That a person intends the ordinary
consequences of his voluntary act;
(d) That a person takes ordinary care of
his concerns;
(e) That evidence willfully suppressed
would be adverse if produced;
(f) That money paid by one to another
was due to the latter;
(g) That a thing delivered by one to
another belonged to the latter;
(h) That an obligation delivered up to the
debtor has been paid;
(i) That prior rents or installments had
been paid when a receipt for the later
one is produced;
(j) That a person found in possession of
a thing taken in the doing of a recent
wrongful act is the taker and the doer of
the whole act; otherwise, that things
which a person possess, or exercises
acts of ownership over, are owned by
him;
(k) That a person in possession of an
order on himself for the payment of the
money, or the delivery of anything, has
paid the money or delivered the thing
accordingly;
(l) That a person acting in a public office
was regularly appointed or elected to it;
(m) That official duty has been regularly
performed;

(n) That a court, or judge acting

as
such,
whether
in
the
Philippines or elsewhere, was
acting in the lawful exercise of
jurisdiction;
(o) That all the matters within an issue
raised in a case were laid before the

court and passed upon by it; and in like

manner that all matters within an issue
raised in a dispute submitted for
arbitration
were
laid
before
the
arbitrators and passed upon by them;
(p) That private transactions have been
fair and regular;
(q) That the ordinary course of business
has been followed;
(r) That there was a sufficient
consideration for a contract;
(s) That a negotiable instrument was
given or indorsed for a sufficient
consideration;
(t) That an endorsement of negotiable
instrument was made before the
instrument was overdue and at the
place where the instrument is dated;
(u) That a writing is truly dated;
(v) That a letter duly directed and mailed
was received in the regular course of the
mail;
(w) That after an absence of seven years,
it being unknown whether or not the
absentee still lives, he is considered
dead for all purposes, except for those of
succession.
The absentee shall not be considered dead for
the purpose of opening his succession till after
an absence of ten years. If he disappeared after
the age of seventy-five years, an absence of five
years shall be sufficient in order that his
succession may be opened.
The following shall be considered dead for all
purposes including the division of the estate
among the heirs:
(1) A person on board a vessel
lost during a sea voyage, or an
aircraft with is missing, who has
not been heard of for four years
since the loss of the vessel or
aircraft;
(2) A member of the armed
forces who has taken part in
armed hostilities, and has been
missing for four years;
(3) A person who has been in
danger of death under other
circumstances
and
whose
existence has not been known
for four years;
(4) If a married person has been
absent for four consecutive

years, the spouse present may

contract a subsequent marriage
if he or she has well-founded
belief that the absent spouse is
already death. In case of
disappearance, where there is a
danger
of
death
the
circumstances
hereinabove
provided, an absence of only two
years shall be sufficient for the
purpose
of
contracting
a
subsequent marriage. However,
in any case, before marrying
again, the spouse present must
institute
a
summary
proceedings as provided in the
Family Code and in the rules for
declaration
of
presumptive
death of the absentee, without
prejudice to the effect of
reappearance of the absent
spouse.
(x) That acquiescence resulted from a
belief that the thing acquiesced in was
conformable to the law or fact;
(y) That things have happened according
to the ordinary course of nature and
ordinary nature habits of life;
(z) That persons acting as copartners
have entered into a contract of
copartneship;
(aa) That a man and woman deporting
themselves as husband and wife have
entered into a lawful contract of
marriage;
(bb) That property acquired by a man
and a woman who are capacitated to
marry each other and who live
exclusively with each other as husband
and wife without the benefit of marriage
or under void marriage, has been
obtained by their joint efforts, work or
industry.
(cc) That in cases of cohabitation by a
man and a woman who are not
capacitated to marry each other and
who have acquire properly through their
actual joint contribution of money,
property or industry, such contributions
and
their
corresponding
shares
including joint deposits of money and
evidences of credit are equal.

(dd) That if the marriage is terminated

and the mother contracted another
marriage within three hundred days
after such termination of the former
marriage, these rules shall govern in the
absence of proof to the contrary:
(1) A child born before one
hundred eighty days after the
solemnization of the subsequent
marriage is considered to have
been conceived during such
marriage, even though it be
born within the three hundred
days after the termination of the
former marriage.
(2) A child born after one
hundred eighty days following
the
celebration
of
the
subsequent
marriage
is
considered
to
have
been
conceived during such marriage,
even though it be born within
the three hundred days after the
termination
of
the
former
marriage.
(ee) That a thing once proved to exist
continues as long as is usual with
things of the nature;
(ff) That the law has been obeyed;
(gg) That a printed or published book,
purporting to be printed or published by
public authority, was so printed or
published;
(hh) That a printed or published book,
purporting contain reports of cases
adjudged in tribunals of the country
where the book is published, contains
correct reports of such cases;
(ii) That a trustee or other person whose
duty it was to convey real property to a
particular person has actually conveyed
it to him when such presumption is
necessary to perfect the title of such
person or his successor in interest;
(jj) That except for purposes of
succession, when two persons perish in
the same calamity, such as wreck,
battle, or conflagration, and it is not
shown who died first, and there are no
particular circumstances from which it
can be inferred, the survivorship is
determined
from
the
probabilities
resulting from the strength and the age

of the sexes, according to the following

rules:
1. If both were under the age of
fifteen years, the older is
deemed to have survived;
2. If both were above the age
sixty, the younger is deemed to
have survived;
3. If one is under fifteen and the
other above sixty, the former is
deemed to have survived;
4. If both be over fifteen and
under sixty, and the sex be
different, the male is deemed to
have survived, if the sex be the
same, the older;
5. If one be under fifteen or over
sixty, and the other between
those ages, the latter is deemed
to have survived.
(kk) That 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, they shall
be considered to have died at the same
time. (5a)

RULE 132 Presentation of Evidence

B. AUTHENTICATION AND PROOF OF
DOCUMENTS
Section 19. Classes of Documents. For
the purpose of their presentation evidence,
documents are either public or private.
Public documents are:
(a) The written official acts, or
records of the official acts of the
sovereign
authority,
official
bodies and tribunals, and public
officers,
whether
of
the
Philippines, or of a foreign
country;
(b) Documents acknowledge before a
notary public except last wills and
testaments; and

(c) Public records, kept in the

Philippines, of private documents
required by law to the entered
therein.
All other writings are private. (20a)
Section 24. Proof of official record. The
record of public documents referred to in
paragraph (a) of Section 19, when
admissible for any purpose, may be
evidenced by an official publication thereof
or by a copy attested by the officer having
the legal custody of the record, or by his

deputy, and accompanied, if the record is

not kept in the Philippines, with a
certificate that such officer has the custody.
If the office in which the record is kept is in
foreign country, the certificate may be made
by a secretary of the embassy or legation,
consul general, consul, vice consul, or
consular agent or by any officer in the
foreign service of the Philippines stationed
in the foreign country in which the record is
kept, and authenticated by the seal of his
office. (25a)