Nature and Effect of Obligations
- Article 1163 – Every person obliged to give something is also obliged to take care of it with proper diligence of a good father of a family, unless the law or the stipulation of the parties requires another standard of care.
- Specific/Determinate thing vs. Generic Thing
A thing is said to be specific or determinate when it is capable of particular designation. Examples :
- this car
- the car owned by A on Sept 12, 2005
- the car with a plate number 1814.
A thing is generic or indeterminate when it refers only to a class, to a genus, and cannot be pointed out with particularity. Examples:
- a car
- a 2005 BMW automobile
- the sum of 5 million
- a kilo of sugar
Applicability of Art. 1163 – duty to exercise diligence. This article deals with the first obligation to deliver a determinate thing – the duty to exercise proper diligence. Unless diligence is exercised, there is danger that the property would be lost or destroyed, thus rendering illusory the obligation.
Standard of Care
- General Rule – that which is required by the nature of the obligation and corresponds with the circumstances of person, time, and place. This is really diligence of a good father of a family.
- Exception – if the law or contract provides for a different standard of care, said law or stipulation must prevail. 5. Factors to Consider
Cases
- Chaves vs Gonzales G.R. No. L-27454
- Piczon vs Piczon G.R. No. L-29139
Obligations to give
Determinate things. Art 1164- The creditor has a right to the fruits of the thing from the time the obligation to deliver it arises. However, he shall acquire no real right over it until the same has been delivered to him.. Real right vs Personal right
- Real right (jus in re) – is a power over a specific thing (like the wight or ownership or possession) and is binding on the whole world.
- Personal right (jus ad rem/jus in personam) – a power demandable by one person of another – to give, to do or not to do.
Kinds of Delivery. Actual Delivery (tradition) – where physically, the property exchanges hands. Ex. “if A sells B a fountain pen, the giving by A to B of the fountain pen is actual tradition.
Constructive delivery – where physical transfer is implied. This may be done by :
- Tradition simbolica (symbolical tradition) – as when the keys of a bodega are given.
- Tradition longa manu (Delivery by mere consent or the pointing out of the object)(Etymoogically, the extending of the hand) – pointing out the car, which is the object of the sale.
- Traditio brevi manu – (Delivery by the short hand; that kind of delivery whereby a possessor of a thing not as an owner, becomes the possessor as the owner) – when a tenant already in possession buys the house he is renting.
- Tradition consistutum possessorium – the opposite of brevi manu; thus the delivery whereby a possessor of a thing as a n owner, retains possession no longer as an owner but in some other capacity. Ex: a house owner who sells a house but remains in possession as tenant of the same house.
- Tradition by the execution of legal forms and solemnities – like the execution of a public instrument selling lan.
If the thing is indeterminate or generic, he may ask that the obligation be complied with at the expense of the debtor. If the obligor delays, or has promised to deliver the same thing to two or more persons who do not have the same interest, he shall be responsible for any fortuitous event until he has effected the delivery.
Classification of obligations according to subject matter. Real obligations (to give)
- to give a specific thing (set apart from a class)
- to give a generic or indeterminate thing (one of a class)
- Personal obligations (to do or not to do)
Remedies of Creditor in a Specific Real Obligation
- demand specific performance (or compliance) of the obligation (generic or specific)
- demand rescission or cancellation
- demand damages either with or without the first two (a and b)
