Short answer. Yes. The Civil Code expressly allows neighbours to create easements by agreement. Article 619 recognises two kinds: legal easements, which the law imposes, and voluntary easements, established by the will of the owners. A properly constituted voluntary easement is a real right, just as binding as one imposed by law.
What the law says
Easements are established either by law or by the will of the owners. The former are called legal and the latter voluntary easements.
Civil Code, Article 619 — Legal and Voluntary Easements. Read the full provision →
Two ways an easement can arise
Article 619 puts it in one sentence: Easements are established either by law or by the will of the owners. Legal easements exist because a statute says they must — think of the drainage and passage burdens the Code imposes between adjoining estates whether the owners like it or not. Voluntary easements are the opposite: they exist only because two owners agreed to create one. The Code treats both as genuine easements. So the premise behind the question is wrong — the law is not the only source of easements, and your agreement with your neighbour can itself be the source of the burden and the benefit.
What a voluntary easement can cover
Because a voluntary easement rests on the owners' will, the parties largely shape its terms themselves: a right of way over an agreed strip, a shared drainage line, a water pipe crossing the neighbour's lot, or a promise not to build above a certain height so a view stays open. The agreement should identify which property is burdened (the servient estate), which property benefits (the dominant estate), the exact location and extent of the easement, and any conditions — who maintains it, whether anything is paid for it, and whether it is perpetual or for a fixed period. What the parties cannot do is agree to something contrary to law or public policy.
Put it in writing — and on the title
An easement is a burden that is meant to follow the land, not the person. If the arrangement lives only in a handshake, a future buyer of the servient lot may deny knowing about it, and proving an unwritten right can become a lawsuit of its own. Reduce the agreement to a signed, notarised document, and for registered land have it annotated on the certificate of title of the burdened property. Annotation is what puts the whole world on notice, so that whoever later acquires the lot takes it subject to the easement rather than free of it.
What to settle before you sign
Agree on the details that cause disputes later: the precise metes of the affected strip, whether the easement is exclusive, who shoulders repairs, what happens if either property is subdivided or sold, and on what conditions, if any, the easement ends. If the situation is one where the Code would impose a legal easement anyway, an agreement can still be worth signing, because it fixes the route, width and compensation instead of leaving them to be fought over. A lawyer can draft the deed so the easement is registrable and its terms are enforceable against successors.
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.
- Privatization Management Office vs. Legaspi Towers 300, Inc, G.R. No. 147957, July 22, 2009 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Sps. Victor Valdez and Jocelyn Valdez etc. vs. Sps. Francisco & Caridad Tabisula, G.R. No. 175510, July 28, 2008 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Sps. Elizabeth De La Cruz, et al. vs. Olga Ramiscal, G.R. No. 137882, February 4, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- National Irrigation Administration vs. Court of Appeals and Dick Manglapus, G.R. No. 114348, September 20, 2000 — read the decision on LawPhil →