Short answer. No. Civil Code Article 1952 is direct: the bailor cannot exempt himself from the payment of expenses or damages by abandoning the thing to the bailee. Telling you to keep the item does not wipe out what the lender owes you — the obligation to pay remains.
What the law says
The bailor cannot exempt himself from the payment of expenses or damages by abandoning the thing to the bailee.
Civil Code, Article 1952 — No Abandonment to Escape Liability. Read the full provision →
Why abandonment does not clear the debt
During a commodatum, situations can arise where the lender owes the bailee money — for extraordinary preservation expenses the bailee incurred, or for damages caused by a flaw the lender knew about and concealed. Article 1952 closes a potential escape route: the lender cannot simply say "keep it, I don't want it back" and treat that as full satisfaction of those debts. The thing loaned and the monetary obligation are separate. Giving up ownership or possession of the thing does not discharge a financial obligation already owed.
Practical effect: you can keep the thing and still sue
If the lender abandons the item to you, you are not forced to choose between accepting the thing and pursuing your claim for money. The two are independent. You may accept the abandoned item and still bring a claim for the expenses or damages the lender owes you. The lender cannot use the abandonment as a defense to your claim. In litigation, this rule prevents a lender from manufacturing a kind of informal set-off by walking away from the thing.
What kinds of debts this protects
The provision protects two categories of money owed by the lender: (1) expenses — typically extraordinary expenses the bailee incurred to preserve the thing, which the lender is obligated to refund under other provisions governing commodatum; and (2) damages — compensation for injury or loss the bailee suffered because of defects the lender knew about and failed to disclose. Ordinary upkeep expenses, which the bailee must bear in any case, are not the lender's responsibility to begin with, so those do not come into play here.
Document the abandonment and your claim
If a lender tells you to keep the item and then uses that statement to deny owing you money, the record of what was said and when matters. Keep any written messages or notes about the lender's abandonment, and separately document your expenses or the damages you suffered — receipts, medical records, repair invoices, or whatever is relevant. Article 1952 gives you the legal position; your documentation is what turns that position into a provable claim.