BOOK IV

OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS

Title. I. - OBLIGATIONS
CHAPTER 1
GENERAL PROVISIONS

ART. 1156. An obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to do or not to do.

Comment:

1) Elements of an Obligation (derived from the Latin obligare to bind)

a) An active subject (called the obligee or creditor) the possessor of a right; he in
whose favor the obligation is constituted
b) A passive subject (called the obligor or debtor) he who has the duty of giving,
doing, or not doing.
c) The object or prestation the subject matter of the obligation; is an obligation.
d) The efficient cause (the vinculum or juridical tie)

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 2) Concept of prestation
A prestation is an obligation; more specifically, it is the subject matter of an
obligation and may consist of giving a thing, doing or not doing a certain act. The
law speaks of an obligation as a juridical necessity to comply with a prestation.
There is a juridical necessity, for non-compliance can result in juridical or legal
sanction.

3) Kinds of Obligations
There are various basis for the classification of obligations. Given hereunder are few
of them:

a) From the viewpoint of sanction

1) Civil obligation that defined in Art. 1156. The sanction is judicial process.
Example: A promises to pay B his debt of P1 million.

2) Natural obligation the duty not to recover what has voluntarily been paid
although payment was no longer required. The sanction is the law of course,
but only because conscience had originally motivated the payment.

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 Example: A owes B P1 million. But the debt has already prescribed. If A,
knowing that it has prescribed, nevertheless still pays B, he cannot later on
get back what he voluntarily paid.

3) Moral obligation the duty of a catholic to hear mass on Sundays and holy
days of obligation. The sanction here is conscience or morality, or the law of
the church.

b) From the viewpoint of subject matter

1) Real obligation the obligation to give
2) Personal obligation the obligation to do or not to do

c) From the affirmatives and negativeness of the obligation

1) Positive or affirmative obligation the obligation to give or to do
2) Negative obligation the obligation not to do

d) From the viewpoint of persons obliged

1) Unilateral where only one of the parties is bound
2) Bilateral where both parties are bound
a) Reciprocal

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 b) Non-reciprocal ( where performance by one is non-dependent upon
performance by the other)

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