Short answer. Yes. Article 1869 says agency may be implied from the acts of the principal, from his silence or lack of action, or from his failure to repudiate someone he knows is acting on his behalf. Agency may also be purely oral unless the law requires a form.
What the law says
Agency may be express, or implied from the acts of the principal, from his silence or lack of action, or his failure to repudiate the agency, knowing that another person is acting on his behalf without authority.
Civil Code, Article 1869 — Express or Implied Agency. Read the full provision →
What the law says
When a sale of a piece of land or any interest therein is through an agent, the authority of the latter shall be in writing; otherwise, the sale shall be void.
Civil Code, Article 1874 — Sale of Land Through an Agent. Read the full provision →
Silence can appoint an agent
The article is unusually direct about it. Agency may be express, or implied from the acts of the principal, from his silence or lack of action, or his failure to repudiate the agency, knowing that another person is acting on his behalf without authority. Two elements do the work: knowledge, and the failure to object. A relative who has been collecting your rents for two years while you said nothing, or a staff member who has long ordered supplies in the company's name without a board resolution, may be your agent in law however the arrangement started.
Knowledge is the hinge
Silence only signifies where the principal knew there was something to object to. Someone who purports to act for you entirely without your knowledge does not become your agent because you failed to repudiate what you had never heard of. That is why disputes on this article turn on what the principal was told and when — the messages, the receipts passing through his hands, the deposits into his account, the invoices he paid. Continued acceptance of the benefits of another's dealings is the clearest form of the silence the article means.
Oral agency is real agency
The second sentence removes the other common assumption: agency may be oral, unless the law requires a specific form. A verbal instruction to negotiate, collect, buy or sell binds you as fully as a notarised document would, subject to proof. The exception that matters most in practice is land. Article 1874 provides that when a sale of a piece of land or any interest therein is through an agent, the authority of the latter shall be in writing; otherwise, the sale shall be void. Not voidable — void.
What to do if you did not intend it
Repudiate promptly and in writing, to the person acting and to anyone who has been dealing with him, and stop accepting anything that comes from the arrangement. Delay is the whole problem, because implied agency is built out of the time that passed without objection. Going the other way, if you rely on someone's apparent authority, ask for it in writing before you contract — an implied agency proved after the fact is expensive to establish and useless where the transaction is one the law requires to be written.
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.
- Sps. Fernando and Lourdes Viloria vs. Continental Airlines, Inc, G.R. No. 188288, January 16, 2012 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Yun Kwan Byung vs. Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation, G.R. No. 163553, December 11, 2009 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Professional Services, Inc. vs. Natividad & Enrique Agana, G.R. No. 126297, January 31, 2007 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Samuel Parilla, et al. vs. Dr. Prospero Pilar, G.R. No. 167680, November 30, 2006 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 1869 — Express or Implied Agency
- Civil Code, Article 1874 — Sale of Land Through an Agent
- Civil Code, Article 1870 — Acceptance by the Agent