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, 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.

ARTICLE V SUFFRAGE
Section 1. Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines, not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen
years of age, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place wherein they propose to vote, for
at least six months immediately preceding the election. No literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on
the exercise of suffrage.

Civil Code of the Philippines

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. (9a)

Art. 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)

Art. 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)

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. (n)
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. 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)

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. (733a)

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. (n)

Art. 1039. Capacity to succeed is governed by the law of the nation of the decedent. (n)

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. (1262a)

Art. 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.

Family Code of the Philippines

Art. 10. Marriages between Filipino citizens abroad may be solemnized by a consul-general, 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)

Art. 28. If the residence of either party is so located that there is no means of transportation to enable such party to appear personally
before the local civil registrar, the marriage may be solemnized without necessity of a marriage license. (72a)

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. 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)

Art. 96. The administration and enjoyment of the community property shall belong to both spouses jointly. In case of disagreement,
the husband's decision shall prevail, subject to recourse to the court by the wife for proper remedy, which must be availed of within
five years from the date of the contract implementing such decision.
In the event that one spouse is incapacitated or otherwise unable to participate in the administration of the common properties, the
other spouse may assume sole powers of administration. These powers do not include disposition or encumbrance without authority
of the court or the written consent of the other spouse. In the absence of such authority or consent, the disposition or encumbrance
shall be void. However, the transaction shall be construed as a continuing offer on the part of the consenting spouse and the third
person, and may be perfected as a binding contract upon the acceptance by the other spouse or authorization by the court before
the offer is withdrawn by either or both offerors. (206a)

Art. 184. The following persons may not adopt:

(1) The guardian with respect to the ward prior to the approval of the final accounts rendered upon the termination of their
guardianship relation;
(2) Any person who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;
(3) An alien, except:
(a) A former Filipino citizen who seeks to adopt a relative by consanguinity;
(b) One who seeks to adopt the legitimate child of his or her Filipino spouse; or
(c) One who is married to a Filipino citizen and seeks to adopt jointly with his or her spouse a relative by consanguinity of the
latter.
Aliens not included in the foregoing exceptions may adopt Filipino children in accordance with the rules on inter- country adoptions
as may be provided by law. (28a, E. O. 91 and PD 603)

Art. 187. The following may not be adopted:

(1) A person of legal age, unless he or she is a child by nature of the adopter or his or her spouse, or, prior to the adoption, said
person has been consistently considered and treated by the adopter as his or her own child during minority.
(2) An alien with whose government the Republic of the Philippines has no diplomatic relations; and
(3) A person who has already been adopted unless such adoption has been previously revoked or rescinded. (30a, E. O. 91 and PD
603)

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.
Corporation Code of the Philippines

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)

Rules of Court

Rule 4
Sec. 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.

Rule 8
Sec. 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.

Rule 11
Sec. 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.

Rule 14
Sec. 12. Service upon foreign private juridical entity.
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.

Sec. 13. Service upon public corporations.

When the defendant is the Republic of the Philippines, service may be effected on the Solicitor General; in case of a province, city
or municipality, or like public corporations, service may be effected on its executive head, or on such other officer or officers as
the law or the court may direct.

Sec. 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.

Sec. 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.
Sec. 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.

Rule 23
Sec. 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.

Sec. 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.

Rule 39
Sec. 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.

RULE 73
VENUE AND PROCESSES
Sec. 1. Where estate of deceased person settled. - If the decedent 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. C

RULE 77
ALLOWANCE OF WILL PROVED OUTSIDE OF PHILIPPINES AND ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATE
THEREUNDER
Sec. 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.

RULE 92
VENUE
Sec. 1. Where to institute proceedings. - Guardianship of the 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 of the
chartered city where the minor or incompetent person resides, and if he resides in a foreign country, in the Court of First Instance
of the province wherein his property or part thereof is situated; provided, however, that where the value of the property of such
minor or incompetent exceeds the jurisdiction of the justice of the peace or municipal court, the proceedings shall be instituted in
the Court of First Instance.chanrobles virtualawlibrary
In the City of Manila, the proceedings shall be instituted in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

RULE 131
Burden of Proof and Presumptions
Sec. 3 . Disputable presumptions. — The following presumptions are satisfactory if uncontradicted, but may be contradicted and
overcome by other evidence:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
(n)That a court, or judge acting as such, whether in the Philippines or elsewhere, was acting in the lawful exercise of jurisdiction;
RULE 132
PRESENTATION OF EVIDENCE

B. AUTHENTICATION AND PROOF OF DOCUMENTS

Sec. 19 . Classes of Documents. — For the purpose of their presentation evidence, documents are either public or private.
Public documents are:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
(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;

Sec. 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)

Sec. 25 . What attestation of copy must state. — Whenever a copy of a document or record is attested for the purpose of evidence,
the attestation must state, in substance, that the copy is a correct copy of the original, or a specific part thereof, as the case may be.
The attestation must be under the official seal of the attesting officer, if there be any, or if he be the clerk of a court having a seal,
under the seal of such court. (26a)