Statute
Civil Code
Article
Art. 1878
Topic
Nature, Form and Kinds of Agency
Status
In force
Book
BOOK IV Obligations and Contracts
Title
TITLE X AGENCY
Chapter
CHAPTER 1 Nature, Form and Kinds of Agency
Year
1949
Cited by
Multiple Supreme Court decisions

The provision

Special powers of attorney are necessary in the following cases: (1) To make such payments as are not usually considered as acts of administration; (2) To effect novations which put an end to obligations already in existence at the time the agency was constituted; (3) To compromise, to submit questions to arbitration, to renounce the right to appeal from a judgment, to waive objections to the venue of an action or to abandon a prescription already acquired; (4) To waive any obligation gratuitously; (5) To enter into any contract by which the ownership of an immovable is transmitted or acquired either gratuitously or for a valuable consideration; (6) To make gifts, except customary ones for charity or those made to employees in the business managed by the agent; (7) To loan or borrow money, unless the latter act be urgent and indispensable for the preservation of the things which are under administration; (8) To lease any real property to another person for more than one year; (9) To bind the principal to render some service without compensation; (10) To bind the principal in a contract of partnership; (11) To obligate the principal as a guarantor or surety; (12) To create or convey real rights over immovable property; (13) To accept or repudiate an inheritance; (14) To ratify or recognize obligations contracted before the agency; (15) Any other act of strict dominion. (n)

Intellegal Wiki · In plain terms

Some acts are so significant that an agent needs a special power of attorney, not just general authority, to do them for the principal. These include selling, mortgaging, or creating real rights over immovable property, making gifts, lending or borrowing money, accepting or rejecting an inheritance, entering a partnership, acting as guarantor or surety, compromising or arbitrating claims, and any other act of strict ownership.

An editorially maintained plain-language explanation of this provision — not legal advice.

Intellegal Wiki · How the courts apply it

In Sally Yoshizaki v. Joy Training Center of Aurora, the Supreme Court held: Affirmed the sale unenforceable, holding no valid agency to sell the realty existed since the certification was only a general power of attorney under Article 1877 while a special power under Article 1878 was required.

One leading Supreme Court case applying this provision.

Cases applying this article

Other Supreme Court decisions also apply this article.

Related provisions in this Chapter

Civil Code, Art. 1878 is found in CHAPTER 1 Nature, Form and Kinds of Agency of TITLE X AGENCY of BOOK IV Obligations and Contracts of the Civil Code of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 386).

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Reviewed by the Intellegal Legal Team for currency against amending laws and Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Research aid — not legal advice. Verify the current text against the Official Gazette. Provisions may have been amended or repealed. Using this page creates no attorney-client relationship. For legal advice, consult a Philippine lawyer.