Short answer. No. Article 1200 gives the debtor the right of choice in an alternative obligation, but it expressly bars him from choosing a prestation that is impossible, unlawful, or could not have been the object of the obligation. He must select from among the options that are actually valid and performable.
What the law says
The right of choice belongs to the debtor, unless it has been expressly granted to the creditor.
Civil Code, Article 1200 — Alternative Obligations; Right of Choice. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The debtor shall have no right to choose those prestations which are impossible, unlawful or which could not have been the object of the obligation.
Civil Code, Article 1200 — Alternative Obligations; Right of Choice. Read the full provision →
The debtor chooses, but not freely among all options
An alternative obligation is one that can be satisfied by performing any one of several prestations. Article 1200 says that the right of choice belongs to the debtor, unless it has been expressly granted to the creditor. But that right is not unlimited. The same article adds that the debtor shall have no right to choose those prestations which are impossible, unlawful or which could not have been the object of the obligation. So a debtor cannot discharge his duty by pointing to an option he cannot actually perform, or one the law forbids. His choice is confined to the prestations that remain genuinely available.
Why a defective option cannot count
The reason is straightforward: choosing an option is supposed to result in performance, not in an excuse. If the debtor could satisfy the obligation by 'selecting' something impossible or illegal, he would in effect be choosing not to perform at all, while claiming he had complied. That would defeat the creditor's expectation, which was to receive one of the valid alternatives. So the law treats an impossible, unlawful, or ineligible prestation as no option at all for purposes of the debtor's choice. The menu the debtor picks from shrinks to the items that can lawfully and actually be delivered.
What happens as options drop away
When some of the prestations become impossible or unlawful, the obligation does not vanish; it narrows to those that survive. If only one valid option is left, the debtor's 'choice' is effectively made for him — he must perform the one that remains. The Code has further rules for what happens when options are lost through the debtor's own fault or through fortuitous events, including the creditor's remedies where the debtor's conduct destroys the alternatives. But the baseline set by Article 1200 is clear: an option that is impossible or unlawful simply cannot be the one the debtor elects.
When the creditor holds the choice
Article 1200's default is that the debtor chooses, but it recognises the parties may expressly give the choice to the creditor instead. Where that is so, the same logic applies to whoever holds the right: the choice must fall on a prestation that is valid and performable, not one that is impossible or unlawful. The identity of the chooser changes; the limit does not. In every case, the point of the alternative obligation is that at least one real, lawful performance is delivered — not that a party escapes by nominating something the law or the facts have already ruled out.