Short answer. Yes, but only on specific grounds. Rule 57, Section 1 of the Rules of Court allows a plaintiff to have the defendant's property attached at the commencement of the action or at any time before entry of judgment, as security for any judgment — but only in the six situations the Rule lists, most involving fraud or flight.
What the law says
At the commencement of the action or at any time before entry of judgment, a plaintiff or any proper party may have the property of the adverse party attached as security for the satisfaction of any judgment that may be recovered
Rule 57, Section 1 — Grounds upon which attachment may issue. Read the full provision →
Security for a judgment you have not yet won
Preliminary attachment does not pay you; it preserves something to collect from. Rule 57, Section 1 allows a plaintiff, at the commencement of the action or at any time before entry of judgment, to have the adverse party's property attached as security for the satisfaction of any judgment that may be recovered. The property is held, not transferred. You still have to win the case — attachment simply prevents the defendant from making a future judgment worthless by hiding or disposing of assets while the suit runs.
The six grounds — and only these six
Attachment is not available in every collection suit. The Rule lists six situations: a money or damages claim against a defendant about to depart from the Philippines with intent to defraud his creditors; actions for money or property embezzled or fraudulently misapplied or converted by an officer, agent, or other person in a fiduciary capacity; recovery of property that has been concealed, removed, or disposed of to keep it from the claimant; fraud in contracting the debt or incurring the obligation sued upon, or in performing it; a defendant who has removed or disposed of property with intent to defraud creditors; and a defendant who does not reside and is not found in the Philippines. If your facts fit none of them, the writ is not available.
An unpaid debt alone is not enough
Notice what runs through the list: fraud, concealment, flight, or a defendant beyond the country's reach. A debtor who simply cannot or will not pay, without more, does not fall under any ground. The money-claim ground itself excludes moral and exemplary damages and pairs the debt with an intent to defraud creditors and an imminent departure. This is the assumption most creditors arrive with — that any collection case can open with an attachment — and it is wrong. The remedy is aimed at defendants manoeuvring to defeat a judgment, not at every defendant who owes money.
Timing and what to bring
The writ may be applied for at the commencement of the action or at any time before entry of judgment — so you can ask for it in the complaint itself, or later if the defendant's behaviour changes mid-case. Because the grounds turn on intent and conduct, the application rises or falls on concrete proof: documents tracing where assets went, evidence of a planned departure, the misrepresentations made when the debt was contracted. A lawyer assessing an attachment will ask for exactly that, together with an honest valuation of the claim, since the attachment is security for the demand and should be measured against it.