1987 Constitution

ART. 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.

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. (9a)
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. 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. 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)
Art. 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.

CORPORATION CODE
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)
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)
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)
REVISED PENAL CODE
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 robles virtual law library
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.
RULES OF COURT
RULE 4
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
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
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
SECTION 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.
If the foreign private juridical entity is not registered in the Philippines or has no resident agent, service
may, with leave of court, be effected out of the Philippines through any of the following means:
a) By personal service coursed through the appropriate court in the foreign country with the assistance
of the Department of Foreign Affairs;
b) By publication once in a newspaper of general circulation in the country where the defendant may be
found and by serving a copy of the summons and the court order by registered mail at the last known
address of the defendant;
c) By facsimile or any recognized electronic means that could generate proof of service; or
d) By such other means as the court may in its discretion direct. (14a) (As amended by SC Resolution,
A.M. No. 11-3-6-SC, March 15, 2001)
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
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)
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)
RULE 73
SECTION 1. Where estate of deceased persons 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
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
SECTION 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 presumption
(n) That a court, or judge acting as such, whether in the Philippines or elsewhere, was acting in the
lawful exercise of jurisdiction;
RULE 132
B. AUTHENTICATION AND PROOF OF DOCUMENTS
SECTION 19. Classes of documents. - For the purpose of their presentation in 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;
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 a 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)