Article 1174 Except in cases expressly specified by the law, or when it is
Except in cases expressly specified by the law, or when it is otherwise declared by stipulation, or when the nature of the
otherwise declared by stipulation, or when the nature of the obligation requires the assumption of risk, no person shall
obligation requires the assumption of risk, no person shall be responsible for those events which could not be
be responsible for those events which could not be foreseen, or which, though foreseen, were inevitable.
foreseen, or which, though foreseen, were inevitable. (1105a)
(1105a)
Discussions
Maliban sa mga kasong nasasaad sa batas, o ayon sa mga ¡Fortuitous Event; Force Majeure
napagusapan, o kung ang kalikasan ng pananagutan ay ¡Effect In General
nangangailangan ng nakikinitang panganib, walang ¡Effect of Negligence
sinumang tao ang may pananagutan ukol sa mga ¡Express Stipulation
pangyayaring hindi inaasahan o kung ito man ay inaasahan ¡Assumption of Risk
ay hindi mapipigilan o maiiwasan.
¡Act of Creditor
Discussion: Fortuitous Event vs Force Majeure.
This article is a continuance to ART. 1173. ART. 1174 Fortuitous event or Caso Fortuito = Act of God
explains a fortuitous event that may have arise during the Fortuitous event:
event of doing the obligation. It is an event which cannot be 2 general cases
foreseen such as sudden coming of a storm which considered (1) by nature:
an Acts of God or known as majeure or any other unexpected ¡ such as earthquakes, storm, floods, epidemics, fire, and
event such as robbery, insurrection which is considered Acts others.
of man. ž (2) by the act of Man:
The Philippine Civil Code distinguishes between two kinds of ¡Such as armed invasion, attacks by bandits, Governmental
fortuitous events namely: prohibitions, robbery and others
1. Ordinary fortuitous events or those which are common and ¡Fortuitous event includes unavoidable events, event if there
which the contracting parties could reasonably foresee e.g. has been an intervention of human element, provided that
rain. fault or negligence cannot be imputed to the debtor.
2. Extra-ordinary fortuitous events which are uncommon and ž No essential difference Fortuitous event and force majeure
which the contracting parties could not have reasonably ž Both refer to causes independent of the will of the obligor.
foreseen e.g. earthquake, fire, unusual flood. ž Blackstone defines Force Majeure or fuerza mayor,
To be declared that such circumstances are fortuitous events Inevitable accident or casualty.
the following must be considered: ž Sir William Blackstone was an English jurist, judge of the
1. The event must be independent of the human will or the eighteenth century
debtor ž An accident produced by any physical cause which is
2. The event could not be foreseen, or if foreseen, is irresistible.
inevitable ž The term generally applies, broadly speaking, to natural
3. The event must be of such a character as to render it accidents
impossible for the debtor to comply with his obligation in a ž
normal manner ž In the legal sense; characteristics
4. The debtor must be free from any participation in, or the 1.It must be independent of the human will.
aggravation of, the injury to the creditor, that is, there is no 2.It must be impossible to foresee or it can be foreseen but
concurrent negligence on his part. impossible to avoid.
In case of fortuitous event there are still rules to be observed: 3.it must hinder the debtor to fulfill his obligation in normal
When expressly specified by law. : a) The debtor is guilty of manner.
fraud, negligence, or delay, or contravention of the tenor of 4.The obligor must not be involved in aggravation resulting to
the obligation. ( Arts. 1170. 1165, par.3) the creditor.
Example: S is obliged to deliver a specific horse to B on ž Defense of force majeure
August 10. S did not deliver the horse on said date. If, on The accident must be due to natural causes, and absolutely
August 11, the horse died because it was hit by lightning, S is without human intervention.
not liable if no demand was made by B. His obligation was ž A mishap of faulty breaks – NOT a fortuitous event.
extinguished. If the horse died after a demand was made by ž A blow-out was considered by CA to be inevitable accident
B, S is liable for damages because he is guilty of (legal) delay. and no negligence took place but SC held that it was not a
In this case the obligation of S to deliver the horse is also fortuitous event.
extinguished but it is converted into monetary obligation to ž The general rule
pay damages. (Art.1165).b) the debtor has promised to ž The debtor cannot be held liable for the damages of non-
deliver the same (specific) thing to two or more persons who performance.
do not have the same interest. Example: If S sold and ž Example
ž The sheriff cannot be held liable for damages for not being
promised to deliver
.
able to deliver certain carabaos because it died of natural
causes.
