Short answer. Article 2060 of the Civil Code requires you to set up the benefit of excussion against the creditor as soon as they demand payment from you, and to point out available property of the debtor within Philippine territory that is sufficient to cover the debt. Both steps are needed together to invoke it.
What the law says
In order that the guarantor may make use of the benefit of exclusion, he must set it up against the creditor upon the latter's demand for payment from him, and point out to the creditor available property of the debtor within Philippine territory, sufficient to cover the amount of the debt.
Civil Code, Article 2060 — How to Invoke Excussion. Read the full provision →
The timing: when the creditor demands payment from you
Article 2060 ties the invocation of this benefit to a specific moment. It states that the guarantor must set it up against the creditor upon the latter's demand for payment from him. That timing matters — the article frames this as something raised at the point the creditor comes after you for payment, not as a standing defense you can simply announce in advance or bring up whenever convenient.
Setting it up requires more than a bare objection
The article does not treat a general statement of "go after the debtor first" as sufficient. It requires the guarantor to point out to the creditor available property of the debtor within Philippine territory, sufficient to cover the amount of the debt. That is a concrete, factual requirement — you have to identify actual property belonging to the debtor, located within the Philippines, and that property has to be enough in value to cover what is owed.
Both conditions have to be met together
Article 2060 links these requirements with the word and, meaning the two steps work together rather than as alternatives. Setting up the benefit against the creditor's demand, without pointing to sufficient available property of the debtor within Philippine territory, does not satisfy what this article asks for. Likewise, having knowledge of the debtor's property without formally invoking the benefit at the time of the creditor's demand falls short as well.
Preparing to invoke this benefit
Because the article requires you to point out property with enough value to cover the debt, gather information about the debtor's assets in the Philippines before the creditor's demand catches you unprepared — titles, registrations, or other records showing what the debtor owns and where. Raise the benefit clearly and promptly once the creditor demands payment from you, since the article frames that demand as the trigger point for asserting it.
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.
- Benjamin Bitanga vs. Pyramid Construction Engineering Corporation, G.R. No. 173526, August 28, 2008 — read the decision on LawPhil →