Business Law Review: Obligations - Sources of Obligation

Article 1157 of the Civil Code has the following sources of obligation:

1. Law (Art. 1158) – obligations arising from law are not presumed. Only those expressly determined in this Code or in special laws are demandable, and shall be regulated by the precepts of the law which established them; and as to what has not been foreseen, by the provisions of this Book. (Art. 1158)

2. Contracts (Art. 1159) – obligations arising from contracts have the force of law between the contracting parties and should be complied with in good faith.

3. Quasi-contracts (Art. 1160) – It is the juridical relation resulting from lawful, voluntary and unilateral acts by virtue of which the parties become bound to each other to the end that no one will be unjustly enriched or benefitted at the expense of the another. The kinds of quasi-contracts include Negotiorum Gestio and Solutio indebiti.

4. Act or omission punishable by law (Art. 1161)- Civil obligations arising from criminal offenses shall be governed by the penal laws subject to the provisions of Article 2177, and of the pertinent provisions of Chapter 2 Preliminary Title on Human Relations, and of Title XVIII of this Book, regulating damages.

5. Quasi-delicts (Art. 1162) – one which causes damage to another, there being fault or negligence, but there is no pre-existing contractual relation between the parties.