Short answer. Yes. Article 1465 of the Civil Code provides that things subject to a resolutory condition may be the object of the contract of sale. You may sell property you presently own even though a resolutory condition, if it happens, would later extinguish your ownership. The buyer, however, generally takes it subject to that same condition.
What the law says
Things subject to a resolutory condition may be the object of the contract of sale.
Civil Code, Article 1465 — Things Under a Resolutory Condition. Read the full provision →
The rule is short and permissive
Article 1465 states it in a single line: Things subject to a resolutory condition may be the object of the contract of sale. A resolutory condition is a future, uncertain event that, if it occurs, extinguishes a right you already hold. Until it happens, you are the owner, with a real and present title, and the law lets you sell what you presently own. The mere risk that your ownership might later be undone does not disqualify the thing from being sold. So the answer to the question is yes: you can validly sell it now, while your title still stands.
What a resolutory condition really means
It helps to see the difference between two kinds of uncertainty. A suspensive condition holds a right in suspense until an event happens; a resolutory condition gives you the right now but takes it away if the event occurs. Ownership held under a resolutory condition is therefore full and effective in the meantime, not a mere expectancy. That is precisely why the thing may be sold: there is a real thing, presently owned, to transfer. But the ownership carries a built-in vulnerability, and that vulnerability does not vanish simply because the property changes hands.
The buyer usually takes subject to the condition
Here is the caution that matters most. You cannot generally pass a better right than you have. If the resolutory condition later happens, the ownership resolves, and the buyer's title, derived from yours, is exposed to the same fate. In broad terms the buyer steps into your position, holding subject to the condition that could unwind everything. A seller who conceals this leaves the buyer to a nasty surprise and himself open to a claim, because a seller warrants the buyer against being deprived of the thing. Selling is lawful; selling as though your title were unconditional is not safe.
Sell it honestly, and price it accordingly
The practical course is transparency. Disclose the resolutory condition, describe what event would trigger it, and let the buyer decide with open eyes, often at a price that reflects the risk he is taking on. Spelling this out in the contract, including how loss is handled if the condition occurs, protects both sides: the buyer knows what he is getting, and the seller limits his exposure to a later claim for the buyer's eviction. What turns a valid sale into a dispute is not the condition itself but the failure to deal with it plainly in the agreement.
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.
- Heirs of Zoilo Espiritu, et al. vs. Sps. Maximo Landrito etc., et al, G.R. No. 169617, April 4, 2007 — read the decision on LawPhil →