- Statute
- Civil Code
- Article
- Art. 2232
- Topic
- Exemplary damages in contracts and quasi-contracts
- 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 2232. In contracts and quasi-contracts, the court may award exemplary damages if the defendant acted in a wanton, fraudulent, reckless, oppressive, or malevolent manner.
Key points
Article 2232 governs exemplary damages in contracts and quasi-contracts: the court may award them if the defendant acted in a wanton, fraudulent, reckless, oppressive, or malevolent manner.
The standard is more demanding than ordinary breach — the conduct must fall within one of the enumerated aggravated forms. The article is read with Article 2220 (moral damages for bad-faith breach), Article 2229 (definition of exemplary damages), and Article 2234 (the requirement to first establish entitlement to moral, temperate, or compensatory damages).
The enumerated standards — wanton, fraudulent, reckless, oppressive, or malevolent conduct — describe a quality of bad faith beyond mere failure to perform, so ordinary or even negligent breach will not support the award. The provision dovetails with Article 2220, which allows moral damages for a breach of contract attended by fraud or bad faith, and with Article 2234, which requires the plaintiff to first establish entitlement to moral, temperate, or compensatory damages before exemplary damages in a contract case may be considered.
Cases applying this article
- Lourdes Munsayac v. Benedicta De Lara G.R. No. L-21151
- Trans-Asia Shipping Lines v. Court of Appeals G.R. No. 118126
- Doris U. Sunbanun v. Aurora B. Go G.R. No. 163280
- R Transport Corporation v. Eduardo Pante G.R. No. 162104
- China Airlines Limited v. Court of Appeals G.R. No. 94590
- Stronghold Insurance Co. v. Court of Appeals G.R. No. 89020
- Ching v. Bantolo G.R. No. 177086