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Requisites of obligation
1. Active subject (creditor or obligee) - The party who
has the right to demand performance of the obligation.
2. Passive subject (debtor or obligor) - The party who
is obliged to perform the obligation.
3. Prestation - The object or subject matter of the
obligation. It may consist of giving, doing or not doing
something. .
4. Efficient cause - The vinculum or the legal or
juridical tie which binds the parties to an obligation.
The efficient cause of an obligation may be any of the
the sources of obligation.
Examples:
Examples:
D is obliged to transport the goods of C from Manila to
Cebu, and C is obliged to pay D P1,OOO.00as transport
costs, under a contract of carriage. 'As regards the
transport of the goods which is the prestation, C is the
active subject and D is the-passive subject. As regards
the payment of transport costs which is the prestation,
C is the passive subject and D is the active subject.
The contract of carriage is the efftcient cause for the
obligations of both D and C. The obligations here are
bilateral, i.e., each party is required to perform a
particular conduct.
Example:
Examples:
A contract of lease which provides for the
payment of rental by the lessee;
A contract of sale which requires the seller to
deliver the thing sold and the buyer to pay
the price.
Examples: (Quasi-contracts)
Example: (Quasi-contracts)
D and C are the owners of adjacent vegetable
farms. One day, D was not around to tend to his
farm, When C noticed that D had not been around'
for almost a week, he himself cultivated the soil
and placed fertilizer on it, watered the plants,
removed the weeds and wilted leaves, C
incurred necessary and useful expenses in the
process. D must reimburse C for such expenses.
Otherwise, he will be unjustly enriching himself at
C's expense,
Example: (Quasi-contracts)
Solutio indebiti - This refers to payment by
mistake of an obligation which was not due
when paid. It creates the obligation to return
the payment (Art. 2154)
Example:
D, the payee of check for P5,000,00 cashes it
with the drawee bank, but the teller gives him
P10,000.00 by mistake. D is duty bound to
return the excess of P5,000.00 to the bank.
Otherwise, he will be unjustly enriching himself
at the expense of another.
Other Quasi-contracts:
1. When without the knowledge of the person
obliged to give support, it is given by a
stranger, the latter shall have the right to
claim the same from the former, unless it
appears that he gave it out of piety and without
intention of being paid in return.
As a rule, the loss of a determinate thing through a fortuitous event extinguishes the
obligation. (Art. 1262)
b. To demand
Example:
D is obliged to give C a specific car. On due date, C
demands delivery but D does not deliver. In this case, C
can compel D to deliver the car because there is no other
person in possession or control of it. C can also demand
payment of damages from him.
Example:
be undone at debtor's
Example:
If in the same illustration above, D constructs
the fence following the measurements
but it was not properly aligned, the finishing
was rough, and materials used were
substandard,
C can have the fence be
demolished by another person or even by
himself at D's. expense. C can also demand
damages from D.
1. Fraud
2. Negligence
3. Delay
4. Contravention of the tenor of the obligation.
(Art. 1170.)
Damages
1. Concept, distinguished from injury
Fraud
1. Concept
Fraud is the deliberate or intentional evasion'
by the debtor of the normal compliance of his
obligation. Under Art.1170, this actually refers
to the fraud committed by the debtor at the
time of the performance of his obligation.
Negligence
1. Concept
It
Examples:
a. If the obligation is to deliver a specific window
glass, the debtor must ensure that the glass,
considering its fragility, is well-protected when
he transports it as required by the nature of the
obligation. Otherwise, he will be negligent.
b. A baby-sitter, 21 years old strong and healthy,
will be negligent if she sleeps while on duty
considering that the circumstances of her person
were considered when she was hired for the job.
Kinds:
a. Culpa contrectuei (contractual negligence)
This is negligence' in the performance of a contract (such as
the negligence committed by the driver of a bus when a
passenger is hurt during a trip because there is here a
breach of contract of carriage)
Here, the master-servant rule applies, ie., the negligence
of the servant is the negligence of the master.
Accordingly, the defense of a good father of a family in the
selection and supervision of employees is not a defense on
the part of the employer although it may mitigate the
liability. Thus, in the example, the negligence of the
bus driver is also the negligence of the bus owner.
Facts: S, a student of X University, was shot and wounded by G, a security guard of the
school, while inside the campus. S sued X University for damages on the ground that it
breached its obligation under the enrollment contract to provide students with a safe and
secure environment and an atmosphere conducive to learning. In defense, X University
pleaded fortuitous event on the ground that it could not have reasonably foreseen nor
avoided the accident since G was not its employee, and that it complied with its obligation to
ensure a safe environment for its students by having exercised due diligence in selecting the
security services of the SA Security Agency.
Held: Respondent school is liable for damages for breach of contract due to negligence in
providing a safe learning environment. It is settled that in culpa contractual, the mere
proof of the existence of the contract and the failure of its compliance justify, prima facie, a
corresponding right of relief. The school failed to prove that it undertook steps to
ascertain that the security guards assigned to it actually possessed the required
qualifications. A learning institution should not be allowed to completely relinquish security
matters in its premises to the security agency it hired. To do so would result in contracting
away its inherent obligation to ensure a safe learning environment for its students. The
defense of fortuitous event or force majeure must also fail. An act .of God cannot be
invoked to protect a person who has failed to take steps to forestall the possible adverse
consequences of the loss sustained.
c. Culpa criminal (criminai negligence) This is negligence that results in the commission of a crime.
Defense of a good father of a family is not proper
because the employee's guilt is automatically the employer's
civil guilt if the former is insolvent.
The passenger of the bus may bring a court action not only
for culpa contractual against the bus owner, but also one for
culpa criminal against the bus driver for physical injuries
through reckless imprudence. In the same way, the pedestrian
may bring not only a suit for culpa aquiliana against the
driver and the owner, but also one for culpa criminal against
the bus driver for physical injuries through reckless
imprudence.
Kinds
a. Mora solvendi - Delay on the part of the debtor.
1) Ex re - Delay in real obligations (obligations to give)..
2) Ex persona - Delay in personal obligations (obligations to
do).
b. Mora accipiendi - Delay on the part of the creditor.
This exists when the creditor refuses to accept the thing due without
justifiable reason.
c. Compensatio morae - Delay in reciprocal obligations, Le., both
parties are in default. Here, it is as if there is no delay.
no delay, as a rule).
of delay:
a. The debtor does not perform his obligation on the date
it is due.
b. The creditor demands the performance of the
obligation. c.
The debtor does not comply with the
creditor's demand.
Example:
D owes C P5,OOO.OO. The obligation is due
on May 15. If D does not pay on May 15, he
is not yet in delay. But if C makes a
demand on him to pay on that date or
thereafter and D does not comply, then D
will be in delay.
Effects of delay
a. The debtor shall be liable for the
payment of damages. (Art. 1170)
Fortuitous events
1. Concept
Fortuitous events are those events that could not be .
foreseen, or which, though foreseen, are inevitable. (Art.
1174).
It is not enough that the event should not been foreseen or
anticipated, but it must be one impossible to foresee or
avoid. (Sicam vs. Jorge, GR. No. 159617, August 8, 2007)
Elements
a. The cause must be independent of the debtor's will.
b. There must be impossibility of foreseeing the event or
of avoiding it even if it can be foreseen.
c. The occurrence of the event must be of such
character as to render it impossible for the debtor to
perform his obligation in a normal manner. (See Sicam
vs. Jorge, G.R No. 159617, August 8,2007, for similar
elements or characteristics.)
Exercise all the rights and bring all the actions of the
debtor except those personal to him (accion subrogatoria).