- Statute
- Civil Code
- Article
- Art. 19
- Topic
- Human Relations (n)
- Status
- In force
- Book
- Preliminary Title
- Chapter
- CHAPTER 2 Human Relations (n)
- Year
- 1949
- Cited by
- Multiple Supreme Court decisions
The provision
Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith.
Intellegal Wiki · In plain terms
Everyone must exercise their rights and perform their duties with justice, honesty, and good faith, giving each person what is due. This is the abuse-of-rights principle: even a lawful right cannot be wielded to deliberately or unfairly harm another, and doing so can expose the actor to liability.
An editorially maintained plain-language explanation of this provision — not legal advice.
Intellegal Wiki · How the courts apply it
In Barons Marketing Corp. v. Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court held: A creditor does not abuse its rights (Articles 19 and 21) by rejecting an installment proposal and suing to collect where it has legitimate business reasons; a creditor may reject partial payment (Article 1248), and courts may reduce iniquitous penalties (Article 1229).
One leading Supreme Court case applying this provision.
Cases applying this article
- Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines v. Spouses Jose R. Bernardo
- Joyce v. Ardiente
- Land Bank of the Philippines v. Alfredo Ong
- Allan C. Go v. Mortimer F. Cordero
- Barons Marketing Corp. v. Court of Appeals
- Lorena Salvador v. Rafael H. Hizon
- Ernesto Oppen v. Darwin G. Koh
- Thelma C. Muller v. Philippine National Bank
Other Supreme Court decisions also apply this article.