Short answer. No. The owner of the servient estate cannot impair, in any manner whatsoever, the use of the easement. The one exception is a change in the location or manner of the easement itself, and even that requires offering an equally convenient alternative at the servient owner's own expense, causing no injury to you.
What the law says
The owner of the servient estate cannot impair, in any manner whatsoever, the use of the servitude.
Civil Code, Article 629 — The Servient Owner May Not Impair the Easement. Read the full provision →
What the law says
it may be changed at his expense, provided he offers another place or manner equally convenient and in such a way that no injury is caused thereby to the owner of the dominant estate or to those who may have a right to the use of the easement
Civil Code, Article 629 — The Servient Owner May Not Impair the Easement. Read the full provision →
The servient owner's obstruction is flatly prohibited
Once an easement exists over the servient estate, the owner of that burdened land cannot impair, in any manner whatsoever, your use of it. This is written broadly and without qualification: it is not limited to certain kinds of interference, such as physical blocking, but reaches any act that would impair your ability to use the easement as established. The servient owner remains the property's owner, but that ownership is subject to the burden of letting the easement function as it should.
The one narrow exception: relocating the easement
The law does allow one specific kind of change, but it is not a license to obstruct or restrict the easement; it is a right to relocate it under defined conditions. If the originally assigned place or manner of the easement becomes very inconvenient for the servient owner, or prevents them from making important works, repairs, or improvements on their own land, they may change it. This is a change in where or how the easement is exercised, not a reduction in what it grants you.
The conditions attached to that exception
Even this limited right to relocate comes with strict conditions. The change must be made at the servient owner's own expense, they must offer another place or manner that is equally convenient, and the change must cause no injury to you as the dominant estate's owner or to anyone else with a right to use the easement. A servient owner who fails to meet all of these conditions is not exercising a valid relocation; they are simply obstructing the easement under a different name.
What this means if you face interference
If the servient owner blocks, narrows, or otherwise interferes with your use of the easement without offering a genuinely equal alternative at their own cost, that conduct does not fall within the narrow relocation exception and remains prohibited outright. Documenting exactly how your use has been impaired, and whether any alternative offered is truly equally convenient, is central to distinguishing a lawful relocation from an unlawful obstruction dressed up as one.
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 Rudy Fernandez and Cristeta Aquino vs. Spouses Merardo Delfin and Angelita Delfin, G.R. No. 227917, March 17, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Bogo-Medellin Milling Co., Inc., vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 124699, July 31, 2003 — read the decision on LawPhil →