Case Digest: Quizana vs Redugerio and Postrado, 94 Phil 218

Quizana vs Redugerio and Postrado, 94 Phil 218

Subject: Obligations and Contracts

FACTS

The defendants –appellants executed a document containing an acknowledgement of loan from plaintiff-appellee, stated therein circumstances as follows: “Na alang-alang sa aming mahigpit na pangangailangan ay kaming magasawa ay lumapit kay Ginang Martina Quizana, balo, at naninirahan sa Hupi, Sta. Cruz, Marinduque, at kami ay umutang sa kanya ng halagang Limang Daan at Limang Pung Piso (P550.00), Salaping umiiral dito sa Filipinas na aming tinanggap na husto at walang kulang sa kanya sa condicion na ang halagang aming inutang ay ibabalik o babayaran namin sa kanya sa katapusan ng buwan ng Enero, taong 1949.” “Pinagkasunduan din naming magasawa na sakaling hindi kami makabayad sa taning na panahon ay aming ipifrenda o isasangla sa kanya ang isa naming palagay na niogan sa lugar nang Cororocho, barrio ng Balogo, Municipio ng Santa Cruz, Lalawigang Marinduque.”

ISSUE

Whether or not the second part of the written obligation, in which the obligors agreed and promised to deliver a mortgage over the parcel of land, upon their failure to pay the debt on a date specified, is valid.

RULING

Yes, it is valid.

Under the law (Art. 1206), when only one prestation has been agreed upon, but the obligor may render another in substitution, the obligation is called facultative. The loss or deterioration of the thing intended as a substitute, through the negligence of the obligor, does not render him liable. But once the substitution has been made, the obligor is liable for the loss of the substitute on account of his delay, negligence or fraud.

In this case, the stipulation is valid and effective and is known as a facultative obligation. This is a provision not found in the old Civil Code in force in 1948, when the agreement was entered into. Nevertheless, since the agreement is not contrary to public morals or public policy, the mere absence of any legal provisions governing it at the time it was entered into is of no moment, and there is no reason why it should not be given effect.