Short answer. As a rule, yes. The Civil Code lets the principal revoke the agency at will and demand the return of the document evidencing it. The important qualifications are that some agencies cannot be revoked, and that a revocation nobody has been told about may not protect you.
What the law says
The principal may revoke the agency at will, and compel the agent to return the document evidencing the agency.
Civil Code, Article 1920 — Revocation at Will. Read the full provision →
What the law says
If the agent had general powers, revocation of the agency does not prejudice third persons who acted in good faith and without knowledge of the revocation.
Civil Code, Article 1922 — Revocation of a General Agency. Read the full provision →
Revocation at will, and the document with it
Article 1920 is unusually direct: the principal may revoke the agency at will, and compel the agent to return the document evidencing the agency. Two rights, not one. You do not need the agent's agreement, you do not need to justify the decision, and you are entitled to have the instrument itself back. That second right exists because the paper is what the outside world relies on. An agent who still holds a signed special power of attorney can still show it to a bank, a buyer or a registry, whatever you have decided privately.
Express or implied
The article adds that such revocation may be express or implied. An implied revocation is one that follows from conduct rather than from words — most obviously, appointing someone else to do the same thing, or stepping in and doing it yourself. That flexibility is convenient but it is a poor way to end an agency deliberately. Conduct has to be interpreted, and interpretation is what disputes are made of. If you intend to revoke, do it in writing, dated, and keep proof that it reached the agent.
Telling the agent is not the same as telling the world
This is where revocations go wrong. The Code protects people who dealt with the agent in ignorance: if the agent had general powers, revocation of the agency does not prejudice third persons who acted in good faith and without knowledge of the revocation. Where the agency was set up to deal with specified persons, revocation does not prejudice those persons unless they were given notice. So the practical task after signing the revocation is notification — the agent first, then the banks, counterparties and offices that hold a copy of the authority, in writing and on the record.
The agencies you cannot simply revoke
There are exceptions, and they exist to stop revocation being used to escape an obligation. An agency cannot be revoked where a bilateral contract depends on it, where it is the means of fulfilling an obligation already contracted, or where a partner is appointed manager in the contract of partnership and his removal is unjustifiable. If the authority you gave is tied to a loan, a sale or a security arrangement, check the underlying agreement before assuming you can withdraw it. That is the point at which to have a lawyer read both documents together, because the power of attorney rarely says on its face which category it falls into.
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.
- Zenaida G. Mendoza vs. Engr. Eduardo Paule, et al./Manuel Dela Cruz vs. Engr. Eduardo Paule, et al, G.R. No. 175885 / G.R. No. 176271, February 13, 2009 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 1920 — Revocation at Will
- Civil Code, Article 1922 — Revocation of a General Agency
- Civil Code, Article 1927 — Irrevocable Agency (Agency Coupled With an Interest)