- Statute
- Civil Code
- Article
- Art. 2217
- Topic
- Moral damages — definition
- Year
- 1949
The provision
ARTICLE 2217. Moral damages include physical suffering, mental anguish, fright, serious anxiety, besmirched reputation, wounded feelings, moral shock, social humiliation, and similar injury. Though incapable of pecuniary computation, moral damages may be recovered if they are the proximate result of the defendant's wrongful act or omission.
Key points
Article 2217 defines moral damages. They include physical suffering, mental anguish, fright, serious anxiety, besmirched reputation, wounded feelings, moral shock, social humiliation, and similar injury. Though incapable of pecuniary computation, they may be recovered if they are the proximate result of the defendant's wrongful act or omission.
Two threshold ideas follow from the text: the injury must be one the article recognizes, and it must be the proximate result of the wrongful act. The provision is read with Article 2219, which lists the cases where moral damages are recoverable, Article 2220 on bad-faith breach of contract, and Article 2216 on the absence of any need to prove pecuniary loss.
Cases applying this article
- Philippine National Bank v. Court of Appeals (Navarro) G.R. No. L-45770
- Rodrigo Concepcion v. Court of Appeals G.R. No. 120706