Article 1356

Article 1356
By: Gretzen M. Colona

Contracts shall be obligatory, in whatever form they may have been entered into, provided all the essential requisites for their validity are present. However, when the law requires that a contract be in some form in order that it may be valid or enforceable, or that a contract be proved in a certain way, that requirement is absolute and indispensable. In such cases, the right of the parties stated in the following article cannot be exercised. (1278a)

Ang mga kontrata ay dapat na magpapasunod, sa kung anumang porma na maaring maipasok nila dito, maliban na lahat ng pangunahing kailangan para sa bisa nito ay makikita. Gayunman, kapag hinihingi ng batas na ang kontrata ay sa ibang kaanyuan para ito ay maging maybisa o maipaguutos o ang kontrata ay mapapatunayan sa ibang paraan, na ang takdang kailangan ay makapangyarihan at lubhang mahalaga. Sa naturang kalagayan, ang karapatan ng mga partido na nakasaad sa mga sumusunod na artikulo ay hindi magagamit.

Contracts are binding upon the contracting parties in whatever form they may have been entered into as long as all the essential requisites for their validity are present. However, when can we consider form as essential requisite of a contract?

The form of a contract is essential:

- When the law requires that a contract be in certain form for its validity; (refers to solemn or formal contracts).

- When the law requires that a contract be in certain form for its enforceability. (refers to the agreements covered by the Statute of Frauds. (Art. 1403, par 2.)

General Rule: Form Is Not Required in Consensual Contracts. 

These requisites are the following:

a) consent of the contracting parties

b)subject matter of the contract

c)cause of the obligation or consideration

2 FORM OF CONTRACTS

1. Contracts in writing

2. Contracts in a public instrument

Contracts w/c must be IN WRITING to be valid:

a. Donation of personal property exceeds P5000.

b. Agent’s authority in sale of land/any interest.

c. Contract of antichresis.

d Stipulation to pay interest on loans.

e. Stipulation to reduce common carrier’s extraordinary diligence & to limit its liability.

Contracts w/c must be IN A PUBLIC INSTRUMENT to be valid:

a. Donation of real property (both the donation & acceptance).

b. Sale of real property.

c. Partnership where real property/rights is contributed; or when capital contribution exceeds P3000.

CASE

MARCIANA CONLU, ET AL., plaintiffs-appellants, 

vs.

PABLO ARANETA, for himself and as administrator of the estate of Vito Tiongco, and ESPIRIDION GUANKO, defendants-appellees.

FACTS: 

Plaintiffs commenced an action against the defendants to recover, as owners, certain parcels of land located in the pueblo of Molo, Province of Iloilo, Lower court found that the plaintiffs were the owners and were entitled to the possession of all of the parcels of land described in said paragraph 6 of the complaint, except that parcel, together with the tile roofed-house located.

ISSUES: Can defendants to prove by means of oral evidence, the ownership of the said realty.

HELD: “An oral contract for the sale of real estate, made prior to the enactment of the Code of Civil Procedure, is binding between the parties thereto, although it may still be necessary for the parties seeking to enforce such contract to take some action to secure the execution of proper documents, but this requirement will not render the agreement invalid.” If the parties to the action, during the trial make no objection to the admissibility of oral evidence to support a contract of sale of real property, and thus permit the contract to be proved, it will be just as binding upon the parties as if it had been reduced to writing. In the present case the defendants called thirteen witnesses, who each testified concerning the sale of the parcel of land and the house in question by Anselma Tiongco to Vito Tiongco, in or about the year 1887, and no objection was made by the plaintiffs to the admissibility of this testimony. The plaintiffs did not invoke the provisions of section 335. They permitted the defendants to prove the oral contract of sale. The contract of sale, therefore, being fully proven, and under the provisions of the law an oral contract for the sale of real property being binding and valid between the parties, we see no escape from the conclusion that if the evidence was sufficient to show the sale, that the contract was binding, even though it had not been reduced to writing.

Q: What are the requisites of a Consensual Contract?

A: These are the following requisites:

a) consent of the contracting parties

b)subject matter of the contract

c)cause of the obligation or consideration

Many thanks & God bless.