Answer
Moral damages compensate for non-physical injury — physical suffering, mental anguish, fright, serious anxiety, besmirched reputation, wounded feelings, moral shock, social humiliation, and similar injury (Civil Code Article 2217). They may be recovered when they are the proximate result of the defendant's wrongful act or omission.
Two thresholds follow: the injury must be one the law recognizes, and it must be the proximate result of the wrongful act. Article 2219 lists the recoverable cases; for breach of contract Article 2220 requires fraud or bad faith. No proof of pecuniary loss is needed (Article 2216) and the amount rests in the court's discretion.
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