- Statute
- Civil Code
- Article
- Art. 2217
- Topic
- Moral damages — definition
- Status
- In force
- Book
- BOOK IV Obligations and Contracts
- Title
- TITLE XVIII DAMAGES
- Chapter
- CHAPTER 3 Other Kinds of Damages
- Year
- 1949
- Cited by
- Multiple Supreme Court decisions
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.
Intellegal Wiki · In plain terms
Moral damages include physical suffering, mental anguish, fright, serious anxiety, besmirched reputation, wounded feelings, moral shock, social humiliation, and similar injury. Though not capable of exact pecuniary computation, they may be awarded if they are the proximate result of the defendant's wrongful act or omission. They compensate for suffering, not economic loss.
An editorially maintained plain-language explanation of this provision — not legal advice.
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)
- Rodrigo Concepcion v. Court of Appeals
- Former Mayor Brigido R. Simon, Jr. v. Florida R. Martinez
- Dominador Cabrera v. Avelino Baguio
- Eustaquio Mayo y Agpaoa v. People
- Equitable Banking Corporation v. Intermediate Appellate Court
- People v. Buenaventura Baylon Alias "Tura"
- Ricardo Chu, Jr. v. Melania Caparas
Other Supreme Court decisions also apply this article.