NATURAL LAW
DISTINGUISHED FROM WAIVER
1. Immutable and independent of all human
regulations
2. Includes those rules which are neither written
nor promulgated, but are derived from reason
and nature
TYPES OF OBLIGATIONS:
1. Moral obligations duties of conscience
completely outside the field of law
2. Natural obligations not sanctioned by any
action but have a relative juridical effect
3. Civil obligations juridical obligations which
apparently are in conformity with positive law
but are contrary to juridical principles and
susceptible of being annulled
4. Mixed obligations have full juridical effect
CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR NATURAL
OBLIGATION TO ARISE:
1. Juridical tie which is not prohibited by law
2. This tie is not given effect by law
When a debtor offers a guarantor for his natural
obligation, he impliedly accepts the coercive
remedies to enforce the guaranty, and therefore, the
transformation of the natural obligation into a civil
obligation.
ESTOPPEL (ARTICLE 1431)
1. An admission;
2. Is rendered conclusive
3. Upon the person making it; and
4. Cannot be denied or disproved against the
person relying thereon
CONCEPT OF ESTOPPEL
Estoppel is a bar which precludes a person from
denying or asserting anything to the contrary of that
which has, in contemplation of law, been established
as the truth, either by the acts of judicial or legislative
officers or by his own deed or representation, either
expressed or implied.
It concludes the truth in order to prevent fraud and
falsehood, and imposes silence on a party only when
in conscience and honesty he should not be allowed
to speak.
A waiver is a voluntary and intentional abandonment
or relinquishment of a known right. It carries no
implication of fraud. It involves the act or conduct of
only one of the parties.
An equitable estoppel may arise, however, even
where there is no intention on the part of the person
estopped to relinquish any existing right and
frequently carries the implication of fraud. It involves
the conduct of both parties.
In Lopez v. Ochoa (L- 7955, May 30, 1958), the
Supreme Court held that waiver and estoppel are
frequently used as convertible terms. The doctrine of
waiver belongs to the family of, is of the nature of, is
based on, estoppel. The essence of waiver is
estoppel and where there is no estoppel, there is no
waiver. This is especially true where the waiver relied
upon is constructive or implied from the conduct of a
party.
DISTINGUISHED FROM RATIFICATION
In ratification, the party is bound because he intended
to be bound; in estoppel, the party is bound
notwithstanding the fact that there was no such
intention because the other party will be prejudiced
and defrauded by his conduct unless the law treats
him as legally bound.
DISTINGUISHED FROM FRAUD
Estoppel exists with or without a contract; fraud
presupposes an attempt to enter into a valid
agreement or contract.
While estoppel may raised as a defense, fraud may
properly be a cause of action on account of the
vitiated consent that it produces.
ADMISSIONS
A party may be estopped to insist upon a claim, assert
an objection, or take a position which is inconsistent
with an admission which he had previously made and
in reliance upon which the other party has changed
his position.
SILENCE OR INACTION
This is sometimes referred to as estoppel by
standing by or laches. Mere innocent silence will
not work an estoppel. There must also be some
element of turpitude or negligence connected with the
silence by which another is misled to his injury. But
one who invokes this doctrine of estoppel must show
not only unjustified inaction but also some unfair
injury would result to him unless the action is held
barred.
Estoppel by acquiescence is closely related to
estoppel by silence. In the former, a person is
prevented from maintaining a position inconsistent
with one in which he has acquiesced.
NATURE OF LACHES
Laches is failure or neglect, for an unreasonable and
unexplained length of time, to do that which, by
exercising due diligence, could or should have been
done earlier; it is negligence or omission to assert a
right within a reasonable time, warranting a
presumption that the party entitled to assert it either
has abandoned or declined to assert it.
ELEMENTS OF LACHES
1. Conduct on the part of the defendant or of
one under whom he claims, giving rise to the
situation complained of;
2. Delay in asserting complainants rights after
he had knowledge of the defendants conduct
and after he has had an opportunity to sue;
3. Lack of knowledge or notice on the part of the
defendant that the complainant would assert
the right on which he bases his suit;
4. Injury or prejudice to the defendant in the
event relief is accorded to the complainant.
LACHES AND PRESCRIPTION DISTINGUISHED
PRESCRIPTION LACHES
Concerned w/ the fact of delay Same
A matter of time Principally
question of inequity founded on some change in
the condition of the property or the relation of the
parties
Statutory Not statutory
Applies to law Applies to
equity
Based on a fixed time Not based on a fixed
time
KINDS OF ESTOPPEL
1. Technical Estoppels
Estoppel by record the preclusion to deny the truth
of matters set forth in a record, whether judicial or
legislative, and also to deny the facts adjudicated by
a court of competent jurisdiction
Example: the conclusiveness of a judgment on the
parties to a case
Estoppel by deed a bar which precludes one party
to a deed and his privies from asserting as against the
other party and his privies any right or title in
derogation of the deed, or from denying the truth of
any material facts asserted in it; a written instrument
is necessary for there to be estoppel by deed
Some doctrines:
1. If the deed or instrument is null and void because
of the contract, there is no estoppel
2. Ordinarily, the person estopped must be
capacitated; but a minor is clever enough to
deceive others, estoppel may result
3. If a person, who is not a party to the instrument,
notarizes the same, he is not in estoppel
2. Equitable Estoppel or Estoppel in Pais
It arises when one by his acts, representations or
admissions, or by his silence when he ought to speak
out, intentionally or through culpable negligence,
induces another to believe certain facts to exist, and
such other rightfully relies and acts on such belief, so
that he will be prejudiced if the former is permitted to
deny the existence of such facts. It takes place in a
situation where because if a partys action or
omission, he is denied the right to plead or prove an
otherwise important fact.
This may be estoppel:
1. by conduct or by acceptance of benefits
2. by representation or concealment
3. by silence
a 4. by omission
5. by laches
Some doctrines:
1. Conduct because of ignorance or mistake
does not result in estoppel
2. Estoppel by laches bars an action to create a
vested right (executory interest) but does not
bar an action to protect a vested right
(executed interest)
3. Just because a person is silent does not
necessarily mean that he will be in estoppel;
 there should have been a duty or obligation
to speak
4. A mere promise to perform or to omit at some
future time does not necessarily result in
estoppel (promissory estoppel); for this to
exist, the promise must have been relied
upon and prejudice would result unless
estoppel is applied
The government is not estopped by mistake or
error on the part of its officials or agents; the
erroneous application and enforcement of the law by
public officers does not prevent a subsequent correct
application of the statute.

ELEMENTS OF ESTOPPEL IN PAIS

In relation to the party sought to be estopped:

1. Conduct amounting to false representation or

concealment of material facts or at least
calculated to convey the impression that the
facts are otherwise than and consistent with
those which the party subsequently attempts
to assert;
2. Intent or at least expectation that this conduct
shall be acted upon by at least influence the
other party;
3. Knowledge, actual or constructive, of the real
facts
In relation to the party claiming the estoppel:

1. Lack of knowledge or of the means of

knowing the truth as to the facts in question;
2. Reliance, in good faith, upon the conduct or
statement as to the facts in question;
3. Action or inaction based thereon of such
character as to change the position or status
of the party claiming the estoppel to his injury,
detriment, or prejudice

ESTOPPEL AGAINST OWNER

When in a contract between third persons concerning

immovable property, one of them is misled by a
person with respect to the ownership of real right over
the real estate, the latter is precluded from asserting
his legal title or interest therein, provided all these
requisites are present:

1. There must be fraudulent representation or

wrongful concealment of facts known to the party
estopped;
2. The party precluded must intend that the other
should act upon the facts as misrepresented;
3. The party misled must have been unaware of the
true facts; and
4. The party defrauded must have acted in
accordance with the misrepresentation.

An estoppel operates on the parties to the

transaction out of which it arises and their privies.