OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS
TITLE I. - OBLIGATIONS
CHAPTER!
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Art. 1156. An obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to do or not to do.
What is obligation?
Under the New Civil Code (NCC), ob/i'7ation is a juridical necessity to
give, to do or not to do.1
An obligation "to do" includes all kinds of work or service; while an
obligation "to give" is a prestation which consists in the delivery of a
movable or an immovable thing in order to create a real right, or for the use
of the recipient, or for its simple possession, or in order to return it to its
owner. 2
What is a right?
A rwht. is a claim or title to an interest in anything whatsoever that
is enforceable by law. 3 A rwht. is a power, privilege, or immunity guaranteed
under a constitution, statute or decisional law, or recognized as a result of
long usage, constitutive of a legally enforceable claim of one person against
the other. 4
For every right enjoyed by any person, there is a corresponding
obligation on the part of another person to respect such right. Thus, Justice
J.B.L. Reyes offers the definition given by Arias Ramos as a more complete
definition:
An obligation is a juridical relation whereby a person (called the
creditor) may demand from another (called the debtor) the observance of a
determinative conduct ( the giving, doing or not doing), and in case of breach,
may demand satisfaction from the assets of the latter. 5
1Art.
1156 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines (NCC).
Construction and Development Corporation vs. Phllippine Comme rcial International Bank. G.R. No.
153827, April 26, 2006.
3 Makatl Stock Exchange, Inc. et.al. vs. Miguel V. Campos substituted by Julia Ortigas Vda. De Campos, G.R
o.
13881 4, April 16, 2009.
4
Rellosa vs Pe1Josis, G.R No. 138964, August 9, 2001, 362 SCRA 486.
5 Makati Stock Exchange, Inc. ct.al. vs. Miguel V. Campos substituted by Julia Ortigas Vda. D C mp
. G.R.
1388 14, April 16, 2009.
2 Asian
1