Short answer. No. Article 637 of the Civil Code imposes a two-sided rule on natural drainage: lower estates must accept water that naturally flows from higher ones, but the owner of the higher estate may not make works that increase the burden on lower land. You must tolerate nature; you do not have to tolerate man-made increases.
What the law says
Lower estates are obliged to receive the waters which naturally and without the intervention of man descend from the higher estates, as well as the stones or earth which they carry with them. The owner of the lower estate cannot construct works which will impede this easement; neither can the owner of the higher estate make works which will increase the burden.
Civil Code, Article 637 — Natural Drainage. Read the full provision →
The natural drainage easement
Article 637 establishes a legal easement that operates automatically, without any agreement between neighbors. Lower estates are obligated to receive water that descends naturally from higher ground — along with the earth and stones the water carries. This is not a choice the lower owner makes; it is a burden the law imposes because the flow of water follows the terrain, not property lines. You cannot build something to block this natural flow and expect the law to protect you.
The upper neighbor's corresponding limit
The obligation on the lower owner has a counterpart: neither can the owner of the higher estate make works which will increase the burden. The higher neighbor can use their land as they wish, but they cannot redirect, channel, concentrate, or amplify the water flow down to your property beyond what nature would produce without their intervention. Paving a large surface that generates runoff where none existed before, cutting channels that direct water toward your land, or building walls that gather and redirect rainwater onto you — these could all qualify as works that increase the burden.
What you are and are not obliged to accept
The distinction in Article 637 is between what naturally and without the intervention of man descends from the higher estate and what the higher neighbor's activities produce. You must accept the natural flow. You do not have to accept artificially increased volumes. If your lower land floods not because of natural rainfall and terrain, but because your neighbor built a drainage system that channels water onto you, that is an excess beyond the easement. The key question in any dispute is whether the water reaching you is the natural amount or more than that because of what the higher neighbor built or changed.
What to do if the higher neighbor's works are causing excess flooding
If you believe your neighbor's construction or landscaping is increasing water damage to your property, document the change — before-and-after photographs, records of when flooding began versus when the works were completed, accounts of the volume and frequency of inundation. Article 637 does not specify a remedy, but a civil action for damages and for an order requiring the neighbor to modify or remove the offending works is available. The burden of showing that the works caused an increase over the natural flow rests on you. Consulting a lawyer early, before the rainy season compounds the damage, is advisable.
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.
- Spouses Abraham and Melchora Ermino vs. Golden Village Homeowners Association, Inc., Represented By Leticia C. Inukai, G.R. No. 180808, August 15, 2018 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Sps. Fernando Vergara and Herminia Vergara vs. Erlinda Torrecampo-Sonkin, G.R. No. 193659, June 15, 2015 — read the decision on LawPhil →