Articles 1199-1206 (Alternative and Facultative Obligations)
Articles 1199-1206 (Alternative and Facultative Obligations)
Articles 1199-1206 (Alternative and Facultative Obligations)
DIFFERENT KINDS OF
OBLIGATIONS
Section 3
Alternative and Facultative Obligations
ARTICLE 1199. A person alternatively bound by different
prestations shall completely perform one of them.
Examples:
O insured his house with Bayad Agad Insurance Company.
It is agreed that if the house is destroyed or damaged, O may
either (1) pay the damage or loss, or (2) restore or
rebuild the house.
Since nothing is said in the contract as to who has the right of
choice, it belongs to debtor Bayad Agad.
Note: The debtor’s right of choice is
not absolute.
Meaning to say:
(1) The debtor cannot choose those prestations which are:
(a) impossible, (b) unlawful, or (c) which could not have
been the object of the obligation. These prestations are void.
However, their presence do not invalidate the obligation if it
includes other undertakings otherwise free from such defects.
Example: D obliged himself to give C a particular horse or a
stolen cellphone or to create a website for C. Here, the
obligation is valid although one prestation (to give a stolen
cellphone is unlawful). But D can only choose between giving a
horse and creating a website.
(2) The debtor has no more right of choice when, among the
prestations whereby he is alternatively bound, only one is
practicable. (Art. 1202.) In this case, there is not
only a limitation but a loss of the right of choice belonging
to the debtor. The obligation becomes simple.
• unlawful; or
Example:
Example:
S obliged himself to deliver to B a particular horse,
cellphone, computer or tablet. If the horse is lost
through a fortuitous event, B can choose from
among the remainder. If three of the items are lost, then B
must give that which remains.
(2) When a thing is lost through debtor’s fault.
Example:
Example:
If all the items are lost through the fault of S, then B
can demand the payment of the price of any one) of
them (not necessarily the last object that was lost with a
right to indemnity for damages.
(4) When all the things are lost through a fortuitous
event
Example:
The obligation of S shall be extinguished if all the
items which are alternatively the object of the
obligation are lost through a fortuitous event. In this
case, Article 1174 shall apply.
Article 1206. When only one prestation has been agreed
upon, but the obligor may render another in
substitution, the obligation is called facultative.