THE 1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year
in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place
ARTICLE IV
Citizenship
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.
ARTICLE V
Suffrage
SECTION 1. Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines not
otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and
wherein they propose to vote for at least six months immediately preceding
the election. No literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall be
imposed on the exercise of suffrage.
ARTICLE XII
National Economy and Patrimony
SECTION 1. The goals of the national economy are a more equitable
distribution of opportunities, income, and wealth; a sustained increase in the
amount of goods and services produced by the nation for the benefit of the
people; and an expanding productivity as the key to raising the quality of life
for all, especially the underprivileged.
The State shall promote industrialization and full employment based on
sound agricultural development and agrarian reform, through industries that
make full and efficient use of human and natural resources, and which are
competitive in both domestic and foreign markets. However, the State shall
protect Filipino enterprises against unfair foreign competition and trade
practices.
In the pursuit of these goals, all sectors of the economy and all regions of the
country shall be given optimum opportunity to develop. Private enterprises,
including corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective organizations,
shall be encouraged to broaden the base of their ownership.
SECTION 2. All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum,
and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or
timber, wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by
the State. With the exception of agricultural lands, all other natural resources
shall not be alienated. The exploration, development, and utilization of
natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the State.
The State may directly undertake such activities, or it may enter into co-
production, joint venture, or production-sharing agreements with Filipino
citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of whose
capital is owned by such citizens. Such agreements may be for a period not
exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not more than twenty-five years,
and under such terms and conditions as may be provided by law. In cases of
water rights for irrigation, water supply, fisheries, or industrial uses other than
the development of water power, beneficial use may be the measure and
limit of the grant.
The State shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters,
territorial sea, and exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and
enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens.
The Congress may, by law, allow small-scale utilization of natural resources
by Filipino citizens, as well as cooperative fish farming, with priority to
subsistence fishermen and fishworkers in rivers, lakes, bays, and lagoons.
The President may enter into agreements with foreign-owned corporations
involving either technical or financial assistance for large-scale exploration,
development, and utilization of minerals, petroleum, and other mineral oils
according to the general terms and conditions provided by law, based on real
contributions to the economic growth and general welfare of the country. In
such agreements, the State shall promote the development and use of local
scientific and technical resources.
The President shall notify the Congress of every contract entered into in
accordance with this provision, within thirty days from its execution.
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 386
AN ACT TO ORDAIN AND INSTITUTE THE CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
Article 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)
Article 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. (9a)
Article 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)
Article 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)
Article 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)
Article 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)
Article 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)
Article 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)
Article 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)
Article 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)
Article 1039. Capacity to succeed is governed by the law of the nation of the
decedent. (n)
Article 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.
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 209
THE FAMILY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
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)
Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly
celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien
spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have
capacity to remarry under Philippine law. (As amended by Executive Order
227)
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;
(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)
Art. 96. The administration and enjoyment of the community property shall
belong to both spouses jointly. In case of disagreement, the husband’s
decision shall prevail, subject to recourse to the court by the wife for proper
remedy, which must be availed of within five years from the date of the
contract implementing such decision.
In the event that one spouse is incapacitated or otherwise unable to
participate in the administration of the common properties, the other spouse
may assume sole powers of administration. These powers do not include
disposition or encumbrance without authority of the court or the written
consent of the other spouse. In the absence of such authority or consent, the
disposition or encumbrance shall be void. However, the transaction shall be
construed as a continuing offer on the part of the consenting spouse and the
third person, and may be perfected as a binding contract upon the
acceptance by the other spouse or authorization by the court before the offer
is withdrawn by either or both offerors. (206a)
Art. 184. The following persons may not adopt:
(1) The guardian with respect to the ward prior to the approval of the final
accounts rendered upon the termination of their guardianship relation;
(2) Any person who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;
(3) An alien, except:
(a) A former Filipino citizen who seeks to adopt a relative by consanguinity;
(b) One who seeks to adopt the legitimate child of his or her Filipino spouse;
or
(c) One who is married to a Filipino citizen and seeks to adopt jointly with his
or her spouse a relative by consanguinity of the latter.
Aliens not included in the foregoing exceptions may adopt Filipino children in
accordance with the rules on inter-country adoptions as may be provided by
law. (28a, E. O. 91 and PD 603)
Art. 187. The following may not be adopted:
(1) A person of legal age, unless he or she is a child by nature of the adopter
or his or her spouse, or, prior to the adoption, said person has been
consistently considered and treated by the adopter as his or her own child
during minority.
(2) An alien with whose government the Republic of the Philippines has no
diplomatic relations; and
(3) A person who has already been adopted unless such adoption has been
previously revoked or rescinded. (30a, E. O. 91 and PD 603)
ACT No. 3815 (December 8, 1930)
AN ACT REVISING THE PENAL CODE AND OTHER PENAL LAWS
Article 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;
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.
THE CORPORATION CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
[Batas Pambansa Blg. 68]
TITLE XV
FOREIGN CORPORATIONS
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)
Republic Act No. 7042 June 13, 1991
AN ACT TO PROMOTE FOREIGN INVESTMENTS, PRESCRIBE THE
PROCEDURES FOR REGISTERING ENTERPRISES DOING BUSINESS IN THE
PHILIPPINES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Section 3. Definitions. - As used in this Act:
a) The term "Philippine national" shall mean a citizen of the Philippines or a
domestic partnership or association wholly owned by citizens of the
Philippines; or a corporation organized under the laws of the Philippines of
which at least sixty percent (60%) of the capital stock outstanding and
entitled to vote is owned and held by citizens of the Philippines; or a trustee
of funds for pension or other employee retirement or separation benefits,
where the trustee is a Philippine national and at least sixty (60%) of the fund
will accrue to the benefit of the Philippine nationals: Provided, That where a
corporation and its non-Filipino stockholders own stocks in a Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) registered enterprise, at least sixty percent (60%)
of the capital stocks outstanding and entitled to vote of both corporations
must be owned and held by citizens of the Philippines and at least sixty
percent (60%) of the members of the Board of Directors of both corporations
must be citizens of the Philippines, in order that the corporations shall be
considered a Philippine national;
b) The term "investment" shall mean equity participation in any enterprise
organized or existing under the laws of the Philippines;
c) The term "foreign investment" shall mean as equity investment made by a
non-Philippine national in the form of foreign exchange and/or other assets
actually transferred to the Philippines and duly registered with the Central
Bank which shall assess and appraise the value of such assets other than
foreign exchange;
d) The praise "doing business" shall include soliciting orders, service
contracts, opening offices, whether called "liaison" offices or branches;
appointing representatives or distributors domiciled in the Philippines or who
in any calendar year stay in the country for a period or periods totalling one
hundred eighty (180) days or more; participating in the management,
supervision or control of any domestic business, firm, entity or corporation in
the Philippines; and any other act or acts that imply a continuity of
commercial dealings or arrangements, and contemplate to that extent the
performance of acts or works, or the exercise of some of the functions
normally incident to, and in progressive prosecution of, commercial gain or
of the purpose and object of the business organization: Provided, however,
That the phrase "doing business: shall not be deemed to include mere
investment as a shareholder by a foreign entity in domestic corporations duly
registered to do business, and/or the exercise of rights as such investor; nor
having a nominee director or officer to represent its interests in such
corporation; nor appointing a representative or distributor domiciled in the
Philippines which transacts business in its own name and for its own account;
e) The term "export enterprise" shall mean an enterprise which produces
goods for sale, or renders services to the domestic market entirely or if
exporting a portion of its output fails to consistently export at least sixty
percent (60%) thereof; and
g) The term "Foreign Investments Negative List" or "Negative List" shall mean
a list of areas of economic activity whose foreign ownership is limited to a
maximum of forty ownership is limited to a maximum of forty percent (40%)
of the equity capital of the enterprise engaged therein.
1997 RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, AS AMENDED
RULE 4
Venue of Actions
Section 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. (2[b]a)
RULE 8
Manner of Making Allegations in Pleadings
Section 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. (6)
RULE 11
When to File Responsive Pleadings
Section 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.
(2a)
RULE 14
Summons
Section 12. Service upon foreign private juridical entities. — 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. (14a)
Section 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. (16a)
Section 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. (17a)
Section 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. (18a)
RULE 23
Depositions Pending Action
Section 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. (11a, R24)
Section 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. (12a, R24)
RULE 39
Execution, Satisfaction and Effect of Judgments
Section 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
(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. (50a)
SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS
RULE 73
Venue and Process
Section 1. Where estate of deceased persons settled. — If the decedents 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
Allowance of Will Proved Outside of Philippines and Administration of Estate
Thereunder
Section 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
Venue
Section 1. Where to institute proceedings. — Guardianship of a 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 chartered city where the minor or
incompetent persons resides, and if he resides in a foreign country, in the
Court of First Instance of the province wherein his property or the party
thereof is situated; provided, however, that where the value of the property
of such minor or incompetent exceeds that 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.
REVISED RULES ON EVIDENCE
RULE 131
Burden of Proof and Presumptions
Section 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;
(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
Presentation of Evidence
B. AUTHENTICATION AND PROOF OF DOCUMENTS
Section 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;
(b) Documents acknowledge before a notary public except last wills and
testaments; and
(c) Public records, kept in the Philippines, of private documents required by
law to the entered therein.
All other writings are private. (20a)
Section 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)
Section 25. What attestation of copy must state. — Whenever a copy of a
document or record is attested for the purpose of evidence, the attestation
must state, in substance, that the copy is a correct copy of the original, or a
specific part thereof, as the case may be. The attestation must be under the
official seal of the attesting officer, if there be any, or if he be the clerk of a
court having a seal, under the seal of such court. (26a)