Short answer. Possibly, if the flood was unusual and you lost more than half your crop. Article 1680 denies rent reduction for ordinary crop loss, but allows it when more than one-half of the fruits are lost to an extraordinary and unforeseen event like an unusual flood, unless your lease specifically says otherwise.
What the law says
The lessee shall have no right to a reduction of the rent on account of the sterility of the land leased, or by reason of the loss of fruits due to ordinary fortuitous events; but he shall have such right in case of the loss of more than one-half of the fruits through extraordinary and unforeseen fortuitous events, save always when there is a specific stipulation to the contrary.
Civil Code, Article 1680 — Rent Reduction for Loss of Crops. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Extraordinary fortuitous events are understood to be: fire, war, pestilence, unusual flood, locusts, earthquake, or others which are uncommon, and which the contracting parties could not have reasonably foreseen.
Civil Code, Article 1680 — Rent Reduction for Loss of Crops. Read the full provision →
Ordinary crop loss does not reduce the rent
Article 1680 starts by ruling out relief for the everyday risks of farming. It states that the lessee shall have no right to a reduction of the rent on account of the sterility of the land leased, or by reason of the loss of fruits due to ordinary fortuitous events. Poor soil, a bad season, or the kind of weather variation farming always involves is treated as a risk the lessee accepted by leasing the land in the first place, and does not, by itself, entitle you to pay less rent.
The exception for major losses from extraordinary events
The article carves out real relief for genuinely unusual disasters: he shall have such right in case of the loss of more than one-half of the fruits through extraordinary and unforeseen fortuitous events, save always when there is a specific stipulation to the contrary. Two things have to be true at once: the loss has to exceed half of the harvest, and the cause has to qualify as extraordinary and unforeseen, not just an unfortunate but ordinary crop failure. If both are met, you have a right to ask for a reduction, unless your lease contract specifically agreed otherwise.
What counts as an extraordinary event
The article defines the category rather than leaving it open-ended: Extraordinary fortuitous events are understood to be: fire, war, pestilence, unusual flood, locusts, earthquake, or others which are uncommon, and which the contracting parties could not have reasonably foreseen. A flood is not automatically extraordinary just because it damaged your harvest; the flood itself needs to have been unusual and something you and your landlord could not reasonably have anticipated when the lease was signed, not the kind of seasonal flooding common to the area.
What this means for your flooded harvest
If the flood that destroyed your crops was genuinely unusual for your area, rather than an ordinary, expected occurrence, and it wiped out more than half of what you would have harvested, Article 1680 gives you a basis to ask for a rent reduction, provided your lease does not contain a specific clause taking that right away. If the flood was a fairly typical event for your location, or your losses were under half the crop, the article does not support a reduction.
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.
- Edgar Cokaliong Shipping Lines, Inc., vs. UCPB General Insurance Company, Inc, G.R. No. 146018, June 25, 2003 — read the decision on LawPhil →