CONFLICTS OF LAW
(9a)
HW 1
CONSTITUTION, arts. IV(1)-(5)
CIVIL CODE, arts. 14, 15, 16, 17, 815, 816, 818, 819, 829, 1039, 1319, and 1753
CORPORATION CODE, secs. 123, 129, and 133
FAMILY CODE, arts. 10, 21, 26, 35, 36, 37, 38, and 80
REVISED PENAL CODE, art. 2.
Rules of Court, Rule 4, sec. 2; Rule 8, sec. 6; Rule 11, sec 2; Rule 14, sec. 12, 14, 15
& 16; Rule 23, secs. 11 & 12; Rule 39, sec. 48; Rule 73, sec. 1; Rule 77, sec. 1; Rule
92, sec. 1, Rule 131, sec. 3(n); Rule 132, secs. 19(a) & 24.
I. CONSTI
Section 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:
[1] Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this
Constitution;
[2] Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;
[3] Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine
citizenship upon reaching the age of majority; and
[4] Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.
Section 2. Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from
birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine
citizenship. Those who elect Philippine citizenship in accordance with paragraph (3),
Section 1 hereof shall be deemed natural-born citizens.
Section 3. Philippine citizenship may be lost or reacquired in the manner provided by
law.
Section 4. Citizens of the Philippines who marry aliens shall retain their citizenship,
unless by their act or omission, they are deemed, under the law, to have renounced it.
Section 5. Dual allegiance of citizens is inimical to the national interest and shall be
dealt with by law.
II. CIVIL CODE
Art. 14. Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be obligatory upon all
who live or sojourn in the Philippine territory, subject to the principles of public
international law and to treaty stipulations. (8a)
Art. 15. Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and legal
capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living
abroad.
Art. 16. Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of the country
where it is stipulated.
However, intestate and testamentary successions, both with respect to the order of
succession and to the amount of successional rights and to the intrinsic validity of
testamentary provisions, shall be regulated by the national law of the person whose
succession is under consideration, whatever may be the nature of the property and
regardless of the country wherein said property may be found. (10a)
Art. 17. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and other public instruments
shall be governed by the laws of the country in which they are executed.
When the acts referred to are executed before the diplomatic or consular officials of
the Republic of the Philippines in a foreign country, the solemnities established by
Philippine laws shall be observed in their execution.
Prohibitive laws concerning persons, their acts or property, and those which have, for
their object, public order, public policy and good customs shall not be rendered
ineffective by laws or judgments promulgated, or by determinations or conventions
agreed upon in a foreign country. (11a)
Art. 815. When a Filipino is in a foreign country, he is authorized to make a will in any
of the forms established by the law of the country in which he may be. Such will may
be probated in the Philippines. (n)
Art. 816. The will of an alien who is abroad produces effect in the Philippines if made
with the formalities prescribed by the law of the place in which he resides, or
according to the formalities observed in his country, or in conformity with those which
this Code prescribes. (n)
Art. 817. A will made in the Philippines by a citizen or subject of another country,
which is executed in accordance with the law of the country of which he is a citizen or
subject, and which might be proved and allowed by the law of his own country, shall
have the same effect as if executed according to the laws of the Philippines. (n)
Art. 818. Two or more persons cannot make a will jointly, or in the same instrument,
either for their reciprocal benefit or for the benefit of a third person. (669)
Art. 819. Wills, prohibited by the preceding article, executed by Filipinos in a foreign
country shall not be valid in the Philippines, even though authorized by the laws of the
country where they may have been executed. (733a)
Art. 829. A revocation done outside the Philippines, by a person who does not have
his domicile in this country, is valid when it is done according to the law of the place
where the will was made, or according to the law of the place in which the testator
had his domicile at the time; and if the revocation takes place in this country, when it
is in accordance with the provisions of this Code. (n)
Art. 1039. Capacity to succeed is governed by the law of the nation of the decedent.
(n)
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Art. 1319. Consent is manifested by the meeting of the offer and the acceptance upon
the thing and the cause which are to constitute the contract. The offer must be certain
and the acceptance absolute. A qualified acceptance constitutes a counter-offer.
Acceptance made by letter or telegram does not bind the offerer except from the time
it came to his knowledge. The contract, in such a case, is presumed to have been
entered into in the place where the offer was made. (1262a)
ARTICLE 1753. The law of the country to which the goods are to be transported shall
govern the liability of the common carrier for their loss, destruction or deterioration.
III. CORPO
Sec. 123. Definition and rights of foreign corporations. - For the purposes of this
Code, a foreign corporation is one formed, organized or existing under any laws other
than those of the Philippines and whose laws allow Filipino citizens and corporations
to do business in its own country or state. It shall have the right to transact business
in the Philippines after it shall have obtained a license to transact business in this
country in accordance with this Code and a certificate of authority from the
appropriate government agency. (n)
Sec. 129. Law applicable. - Any foreign corporation lawfully doing business in the
Philippines shall be bound by all laws, rules and regulations applicable to domestic
corporations of the same class, except such only as provide for the creation,
formation, organization or dissolution of corporations or those which fix the relations,
liabilities, responsibilities, or duties of stockholders, members, or officers of
corporations to each other or to the corporation. (73a)
Sec. 133. Doing business without a license. - No foreign corporation transacting
business in the Philippines without a license, or its successors or assigns, shall be
permitted to maintain or intervene in any action, suit or proceeding in any court or
administrative agency of the Philippines; but such corporation may be sued or
proceeded against before Philippine courts or administrative tribunals on any valid
cause of action recognized under Philippine laws. (69a)
IV. FAMILY CODE
Art. 10. Marriages between Filipino citizens abroad may be solemnized by a consul-
general, consul or vice-consul of the Republic of the Philippines. The issuance of the
marriage license and the duties of the local civil registrar and of the solemnizing
officer with regard to the celebration of marriage shall be performed by said consular
official. (75a)
Art. 21. When either or both of the contracting parties are citizens of a foreign country,
it shall be necessary for them before a marriage license can be obtained, to submit a
certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage, issued by their respective diplomatic
or consular officials.
Stateless persons or refugees from other countries shall, in lieu of the certificate of
legal capacity herein required, submit an affidavit stating the circumstances showing
such capacity to contract marriage. (66a)
Art. 26. All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines, in accordance with the laws
in force in the country where they were solemnized, and valid there as such, shall
also be valid in this country, except those prohibited under Articles 35 (1), (4), (5) and
(6), 3637 and 38. (17a)
Chapter 3. Void and Voidable Marriages
Art. 35. The following marriages shall be void from the beginning:
(1) Those contracted by any party below eighteen years of age even with the consent
of parents or guardians;
(2) Those solemnized by any person not legally authorized to perform marriages
unless such marriages were contracted with either or both parties believing in good
faith that the solemnizing officer had the legal authority to do so;
(3) Those solemnized without license, except those covered the preceding Chapter;
(4) Those bigamous or polygamous marriages not failing under Article 41;
(5) Those contracted through mistake of one contracting party as to the identity of the
other; and
(6) Those subsequent marriages that are void under Article 53.
Art. 36. A marriage contracted by any party who, at the time of the celebration, was
psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of
marriage, shall likewise be void even if such incapacity becomes manifest only after
its solemnization. (As amended by Executive Order 227)
Art. 37. Marriages between the following are incestuous and void from the beginning,
whether relationship between the parties be legitimate or illegitimate:
(1) Between ascendants and descendants of any degree; and
(2) Between brothers and sisters, whether of the full or half blood. (81a)
Art. 38. The following marriages shall be void from the beginning for reasons of public
policy:
(1) Between collateral blood relatives whether legitimate or illegitimate, up to the
fourth civil degree;
(2) Between step-parents and step-children;
(3) Between parents-in-law and children-in-law;
(4) Between the adopting parent and the adopted child;
(5) Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent and the adopted child;
(6) Between the surviving spouse of the adopted child and the adopter;
(7) Between an adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter;
(8) Between adopted children of the same adopter; and
(9) Between parties where one, with the intention to marry the other, killed that other
person's spouse, or his or her own spouse. (82)
Art. 80. In the absence of a contrary stipulation in a marriage settlement, the property
relations of the spouses shall be governed by Philippine laws, regardless of the place
of the celebration of the marriage and their residence.
This rule shall not apply:
(1) Where both spouses are aliens;
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(2) With respect to the extrinsic validity of contracts affecting property not situated in
the Philippines and executed in the country where the property is located; and
(3) With respect to the extrinsic validity of contracts entered into in the Philippines but
affecting property situated in a foreign country whose laws require different formalities
for its extrinsic validity. (124a)
V. RPC
Art. 2. Application of its provisions. Except as provided in the treaties and laws of
preferential application, the provisions of this Code shall be enforced not only within
the Philippine Archipelago, including its atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime
zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction, against those who:
1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship
2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or
obligations and securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands; chan
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3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands of the
obligations and securities mentioned in the presiding number;
4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise
of their functions; or
5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations,
defined in Title One of Book Two of this Code.
VI. ROC
Rule 4, Sec. 2. Venue of personal actions.
All other actions may be commenced and tried where the plaintiff or any of the
principal plaintiffs resides, or where the defendant or any of the principal defendants
resides, or in the case of a non-resident defendant where he may be found, at the
election of the plaintiff.
Rule 8, Sec. 6. Judgment.
In pleading a judgment or decision of a domestic or foreign court, judicial or quasi-
judicial tribunal, or of a board or officer, it is sufficient to aver the judgment or decision
without setting forth matter showing jurisdiction to render it.
Rule 11 Sec. 2. Answer of a defendant foreign private juridical entity.
Where the defendant is a foreign private juridical entity and service of summons is
made on the government official designated by law to receive the same, the answer
shall be filed within thirty (30) days after receipt of summons by such entity.
Rule 14
Sec. 12. Service upon foreign private juridical entity.
When the defendant is a foreign private juridical entity which has transacted business
in the Philippines, service may be made on its resident agent designated in
accordance with law for that purpose, or, if there be no such agent, on the
government official designated by law to that effect, or on any of its officers or agents
within the Philippines.
Sec. 14. Service upon defendant whose identity or whereabouts are unknown.
In any action where the defendant is designated as an unknown owner, or the like, or
whenever his whereabouts are unknown and cannot be ascertained by diligent
inquiry, service may, by leave of court, be effected upon him by publication in a
newspaper of general circulation and in such places and for such time as the court
may order.
Sec. 15. Extraterritorial service.
When the defendant does not reside and is not found in the Philippines, and the
action affects the personal status of the plaintiff or relates to, or the subject of which
is, property within the Philippines, in which the defendant has or claims a lien or
interest, actual or contingent, or in which the relief demanded consists, wholly or in
part, in excluding the defendant from any interest therein, or the property of the
defendant has been attached within the Philippines, service may, by leave of court, be
effected out of the Philippines by personal service as under section 6; or by
publication in a newspaper of general circulation in such places and for such time as
the court may order, in which case a copy of the summons and order of the court shall
be sent by registered mail to the last known address of the defendant, or in any other
manner the court may deem sufficient. Any order granting such leave shall specify a
reasonable time, which shall not be less than sixty (60) days after notice, within which
the defendant must answer.
Sec. 16. Residents temporarily out of the Philippines.
When any action is commenced against a defendant who ordinarily resides within the
Philippines, but who is temporarily out of it, service may, by leave of court, be also
effected out of the Philippines, as under the preceding section.
Rule 23
Sec. 11. Persons before whom depositions may be taken in foreign countries.
In a foreign state or country, depositions may be taken (a) on notice before a
secretary of embassy or legation, consul general, consul, vice-consul, or consular
agent of the Republic of the Philippines; (b) before such person or officer as may be
appointed by commission or under letters rogatory; or (c) the person referred to in
section 14 hereof.
Sec. 12. Commission or letters rogatory.
A commission or letters rogatory shall be issued only when necessary or convenient,
on application and notice, and on such terms and with such direction as are just and
appropriate. Officers may be designated in notices or commissions either by name or
descriptive title and letters rogatory may be addressed to the appropriate judicial
authority in the foreign country.
Rule 39 Sec. 48. Effect of foreign judgments or final orders.
The effect of a judgment or final order of a tribunal of a foreign country, having
jurisdiction to render the judgment or final order is as follows:
(a) In case of a judgment or final order upon a specific thing, the judgment or final
order is conclusive upon the title to the thing; and
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(b) In case of a judgment or final order against a person, the judgment or final order is
presumptive evidence of a right as between the parties and their successors in
interest by a subsequent title.
In either case, the judgment or final order may be repelled by evidence of a want of
jurisdiction, want of notice to the party, collusion, fraud, or clear mistake of law or fact.
Rule 73 Sec. 1. Where estate of deceased person settled. - If the decedent is an
inhabitant of the Philippines at the time of his death, whether a citizen or an alien, his
will shall be proved, or letters of administration granted, and his estate settled, in the
Court of First Instance in the province in which he resides at the time of his death,
and if he is an inhabitant of a foreign country, the Court of First Instance of any
province in which he had estate. The court first taking cognizance of the settlement of
the estate of a decedent, shall exercise jurisdiction to the exclusion of all other courts.
The jurisdiction assumed by a court, so far as it depends on the place of residence of
the decedent, or of the location of his estate, shall not be contested in a suit or
proceeding, except in an appeal from that court, in the original case, or when the want
of jurisdiction appears on the record.
Rule 77 Sec. 1. Will proved outside Philippines may be allowed here. - Wills proved
and allowed in a foreign country, according to the laws of such country, may be
allowed, filed, and recorded by the proper Court of First Instance in the Philippines.
Rule 92 Sec. 1. Where to institute proceedings. - Guardianship of the person or
estate of a minor or incompetent may be instituted in the Court of First Instance of the
province, or in the justice of the peace court of the municipality, or in the municipal
court of the chartered city where the minor or incompetent person resides, and if he
resides in a foreign country, in the Court of First Instance of the province wherein his
property or part thereof is situated; provided, however, that where the value of the
property of such minor or incompetent exceeds the jurisdiction of the justice of the
peace or municipal court, the proceedings shall be instituted in the Court of First
Instance.
In the City of Manila, the proceedings shall be instituted in the Juvenile and Domestic
Relations Court.
Rule 131 Sec. 3 . Disputable presumptions. The following presumptions are
satisfactory if uncontradicted, but may be contradicted and overcome by other
evidence:
(a)That a person is innocent of crime or wrong;
(b)That an unlawful act was done with an unlawful intent;
(c)That a person intends the ordinary consequences of his voluntary act;
(d)That a person takes ordinary care of his concerns;
(e)That evidence willfully suppressed would be adverse if produced;
(f)That money paid by one to another was due to the latter;
(g)That a thing delivered by one to another belonged to the latter;
(h)That an obligation delivered up to the debtor has been paid;
(i)That prior rents or installments had been paid when a receipt for the later one is
produced;
(j)That a person found in possession of a thing taken in the doing of a recent wrongful
act is the taker and the doer of the whole act; otherwise, that things which a person
possess, or exercises acts of ownership over, are owned by him;
(k)That a person in possession of an order on himself for the payment of the money,
or the delivery of anything, has paid the money or delivered the thing accordingly;
(l)That a person acting in a public office was regularly appointed or elected to it;
(m)That official duty has been regularly performed;
(n)That a court, or judge acting as such, whether in the Philippines or elsewhere, was
acting in the lawful exercise of jurisdiction;
(o)That all the matters within an issue raised in a case were laid before the court and
passed upon by it; and in like manner that all matters within an issue raised in a
dispute submitted for arbitration were laid before the arbitrators and passed upon by
them;
(p)That private transactions have been fair and regular;
(q)That the ordinary course of business has been followed;
(r)That there was a sufficient consideration for a contract;
(s)That a negotiable instrument was given or indorsed for a sufficient consideration;
(t)That an endorsement of negotiable instrument was made before the instrument
was overdue and at the place where the instrument is dated;
(u)That a writing is truly dated;
(v)That a letter duly directed and mailed was received in the regular course of the
mail;
(w)That after an absence of seven years, it being unknown whether or not the
absentee still lives, he is considered dead for all purposes, except for those of
succession.
The absentee shall not be considered dead for the purpose of opening his succession
till after an absence of ten years. If he disappeared after the age of seventy-five
years, an absence of five years shall be sufficient in order that his succession may be
opened.
The following shall be considered dead for all purposes including the division of the
estate among the heirs:
(1)A person on board a vessel lost during a sea voyage, or an aircraft with is missing,
who has not been heard of for four years since the loss of the vessel or aircraft;
(2)A member of the armed forces who has taken part in armed hostilities, and has
been missing for four years;
(3)A person who has been in danger of death under other circumstances and whose
existence has not been known for four years;
(4)If a married person has been absent for four consecutive years, the spouse
present may contract a subsequent marriage if he or she has well-founded belief that
the absent spouse is already death. In case of disappearance, where there is a
danger of death the circumstances hereinabove provided, an absence of only two
years shall be sufficient for the purpose of contracting a subsequent marriage.
However, in any case, before marrying again, the spouse present must institute a
summary proceedings as provided in the Family Code and in the rules for declaration
of presumptive death of the absentee, without prejudice to the effect of reappearance
of the absent spouse.
(x)That acquiescence resulted from a belief that the thing acquiesced in was
conformable to the law or fact;
(y)That things have happened according to the ordinary course of nature and ordinary
nature habits of life;
(z)That persons acting as copartners have entered into a contract of copartneship;
(aa)That a man and woman deporting themselves as husband and wife have entered
into a lawful contract of marriage;
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(bb)That property acquired by a man and a woman who are capacitated to marry
each other and who live exclusively with each other as husband and wife without the
benefit of marriage or under void marriage, has been obtained by their joint efforts,
work or industry.
(cc)That in cases of cohabitation by a man and a woman who are not capacitated to
marry each other and who have acquire properly through their actual joint contribution
of money, property or industry, such contributions and their corresponding shares
including joint deposits of money and evidences of credit are equal.
(dd)That if the marriage is terminated and the mother contracted another marriage
within three hundred days after such termination of the former marriage, these rules
shall govern in the absence of proof to the contrary:
(1)A child born before one hundred eighty days after the solemnization of the
subsequent marriage is considered to have been conceived during such marriage,
even though it be born within the three hundred days after the termination of the
former marriage.
(2)A child born after one hundred eighty days following the celebration of the
subsequent marriage is considered to have been conceived during such marriage,
even though it be born within the three hundred days after the termination of the
former marriage.
(ee)That a thing once proved to exist continues as long as is usual with things of the
nature;
(ff)That the law has been obeyed;
(gg)That a printed or published book, purporting to be printed or published by public
authority, was so printed or published;
(hh)That a printed or published book, purporting contain reports of cases adjudged in
tribunals of the country where the book is published, contains correct reports of such
cases;
(ii)That a trustee or other person whose duty it was to convey real property to a
particular person has actually conveyed it to him when such presumption is
necessary to perfect the title of such person or his successor in interest;
(jj)That except for purposes of succession, when two persons perish in the same
calamity, such as wreck, battle, or conflagration, and it is not shown who died first,
and there are no particular circumstances from which it can be inferred, the
survivorship is determined from the probabilities resulting from the strength and the
age of the sexes, according to the following rules:
1.If both were under the age of fifteen years, the older is deemed to have survived;
2.If both were above the age sixty, the younger is deemed to have survived;
3.If one is under fifteen and the other above sixty, the former is deemed to have
survived;
4.If both be over fifteen and under sixty, and the sex be different, the male is deemed
to have survived, if the sex be the same, the older;
5.If one be under fifteen or over sixty, and the other between those ages, the latter is
deemed to have survived.
(kk)That if there is a doubt, as between two or more persons who are called to
succeed each other, as to which of them died first, whoever alleges the death of one
prior to the other, shall prove the same; in the absence of proof, they shall be
considered to have died at the same time. (5a)
Rule 132
Sec. 19 . Classes of Documents. For the purpose of their presentation evidence,
documents are either public or private.
Public documents are:
(a)The written official acts, or records of the official acts of the sovereign authority,
official bodies and tribunals, and public officers, whether of the Philippines, or of a
foreign country;
Sec. 24 . Proof of official record. The record of public documents referred to in
paragraph (a) of Section 19, when admissible for any purpose, may be evidenced by
an official publication thereof or by a copy attested by the officer having the legal
custody of the record, or by his deputy, and accompanied, if the record is not kept in
the Philippines, with a certificate that such officer has the custody. If the office in
which the record is kept is in foreign country, the certificate may be made by a
secretary of the embassy or legation, consul general, consul, vice consul, or consular
agent or by any officer in the foreign service of the Philippines stationed in the foreign
country in which the record is kept, and authenticated by the seal of his office. (25a)