I publicly announced someone as my representative and later withdrew it privately — am I still bound?

The announcement itself created the authority

Article 1873 treats the notice as the source of the power rather than as a report about it. Tell one person specially that you have given someone a power of attorney and he becomes your duly authorised agent as to that person; announce it by public advertisement and he becomes your agent with regard to any person. Nothing in that depends on whether a power of attorney was ever actually signed. The people who relied on your announcement dealt on the strength of what you published, and the article makes you answer for it.

Undo it the way you did it

The withdrawal is governed by the matching rule: the power shall continue to be in full force until the notice is rescinded in the same manner in which it was given. A private message to the agent, a resignation letter, even a notarised revocation kept in your file does none of this work. If the announcement was made to one named person, notify that person. If it went out publicly, it has to be withdrawn publicly, and by a channel that reaches the same audience the announcement did.

The contracts made in between

Until the rescission is properly given, third parties who deal with your representative in good faith are protected, and you are bound by what he agreed within the announced power. The same logic runs through the rules on revoking an agency generally: Article 1922 provides that if the agent had general powers, revocation of the agency does not prejudice third persons who acted in good faith and without knowledge of the revocation. The exposure is not open-ended, but it lasts exactly as long as the public notice remains uncorrected.

What to do now

Publish the withdrawal through the same medium and with the same reach as the original, keep proof of the publication and its date, and write separately to every counterparty you know has been dealing with him. Ask for the return of any document evidencing the authority, and where the announcement concerned property, have any annotation on the title cancelled. Then check what was concluded in the meantime, because the transactions inside that window are the ones that will need attention.

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.

• Dale Strickland vs. Ernst & Young LLP/Dale Strickland vs. Punongbayan & Araullo, G.R. No. 193782 / G.R. No. 210695, August 1, 2018 — read the decision on LawPhil →
• Celestina T. Naguiat vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 118375, October 3, 2003 — read the decision on LawPhil →

Related provisions

• Civil Code, Article 1873 — Notice of Agency to Third Persons
• Civil Code, Article 1922 — Revocation of a General Agency
• Civil Code, Article 1921 — Revocation and Specified Third Persons