Short answer. No. Article 2234 requires the plaintiff to show entitlement to moral, temperate, or compensatory damages before a court will even consider whether exemplary damages should be awarded. Exemplary damages cannot stand alone; they depend on the plaintiff first establishing a right to one of those other categories.
What the law says
While the amount of the exemplary damages need not be proved, the plaintiff must show that he is entitled to moral, temperate or compensatory damages before the court may consider the question of whether or not exemplary damages should be awarded.
Civil Code, Article 2234 — Entitlement to Compensatory Damages First. Read the full provision →
Exemplary damages are conditional, not a standalone claim
Article 2234 sets out a clear precondition: "the plaintiff must show that he is entitled to moral, temperate or compensatory damages before the court may consider the question of whether or not exemplary damages should be awarded." A plaintiff cannot ask a court to jump straight to exemplary damages while skipping proof of an underlying entitlement to at least one of these other recognized categories of damages. Exemplary damages exist to add to an already-established claim, not to substitute for one.
The amount, though, does not need separate proof
The article draws an important distinction between entitlement and amount. It opens by noting that "the amount of the exemplary damages need not be proved." So while you must establish your right to moral, temperate, or compensatory damages as a threshold matter, you are not required to prove a specific peso figure for the exemplary damages themselves — that determination is left to the court's discretion once the threshold entitlement has been shown.
A special rule when liquidated damages were agreed upon
The article also addresses contracts with a liquidated damages clause. Even though no proof of loss is normally needed to recover liquidated damages, the article requires that before a court adds exemplary damages on top of a liquidated damages award, "the plaintiff must show that he would be entitled to moral, temperate or compensatory damages were it not for the stipulation for liquidated damages." In other words, the plaintiff has to demonstrate that, absent the liquidated damages clause, an entitlement to one of those other categories would still exist.
What this means for building your claim
If you are seeking exemplary damages, your case has to be built around actually establishing your entitlement to moral, temperate, or compensatory damages first — that is where your evidentiary effort needs to focus. Exemplary damages will not be considered in a vacuum, and a claim that leads only with a request for exemplary damages, without first laying this foundation, does not meet what Article 2234 requires before the court will even take up the question.
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.
- United Coconut Planters Bank, Inc. vs. E. Ganzon, Inc, G.R. No. 244247, November 10, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Manila International Ports Terminal, Inc. vs. Philippine Ports Authority/Philippine Ports Authority vs. Manila International, G.R. No. 196199 / G.R. No. 196252, December 7, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Pastora Ganancial vs. Betty Cabugao, G.R. No. 203348, July 6, 2020 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Loyola Life Plans Incorporated (now Loyola Plans Consolidated, Inc. and Angelita D. Lumiqued), G.R. No. 228402 / G.R. No. 222912, August 26, 2020 — read the decision on LawPhil →