Short answer. No. Article 2233 provides that exemplary damages cannot be recovered as a matter of right and that the court will decide whether or not they should be adjudicated. Outrageous conduct makes them available for consideration; it does not make them yours to demand.
What the law says
Exemplary damages cannot be recovered as a matter of right; the court will decide whether or not they should be adjudicated.
Civil Code, Article 2233 — Not a Matter of Right. Read the full provision →
What “not a matter of right” means
A right is something a court must give you once you prove the facts. Exemplary damages are not that. The article says they cannot be recovered as a matter of right and that the court will decide whether or not they should be adjudicated, which means even a defendant whose behaviour was plainly appalling may end up paying none. That is not a flaw in the arrangement; it follows from what this head of damages exists to do, and it is worth explaining before anyone's expectations settle around a figure.
The purpose explains the discretion
Article 2229 describes exemplary or corrective damages as imposed by way of example or correction for the public good, in addition to the moral, temperate, liquidated or compensatory damages. They are not measuring your loss, because the loss is already answered by the other heads. They exist to mark conduct the law wants discouraged. A remedy aimed at the public good is naturally left to the court's judgment rather than handed over on demand, and that is exactly what Article 2233 records.
Discretion is reached only after two things
There must be a provision opening the door for your kind of case: Article 2230 for criminal offences committed with aggravating circumstances, Article 2231 where a defendant in a quasi-delict acted with gross negligence, and Article 2232 for contracts and quasi-contracts where he acted in a wanton, fraudulent, reckless, oppressive or malevolent manner. And Article 2234 requires you to show entitlement to moral, temperate or compensatory damages before the question is considered at all.
So plead them as an addition
And argue them as one. Establish the compensatory and moral claims properly first, because they are both the foundation and, in practice, the bulk of what is recovered. Then set out the conduct in its own right, in dated detail, and say what about it the public has an interest in discouraging. Do not anchor anyone's expectations to a number, because the amount, unlike entitlement under the other heads, is not something either side can compute in advance.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- San Miguel Pure Foods Company, Inc. vs. Foodsphere, Inc./Foodsphere, Inc. vs. San Miguel Pure Foods Company, Inc, G.R. No. 217781 / G.R. No. 217788, June 20, 2018 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. vs. Antonio K. Litonjua and Aurelio K. Litonjua, Jr, G.R. No. 204014, December 5, 2016 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation vs. John Bordman Ltd. of Iloilo, Inc, G.R. No. 159831, October 14, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Quezon City Government, et al. vs. Fulgencio Dacara, G.R. No. 150304, June 15, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 2229 — Exemplary Damages Defined
- Civil Code, Article 2232 — Exemplary Damages in Contracts