Short answer. Yes. Article 694 defines a nuisance broadly, and one of its five independent categories covers anything that shocks, defies, or disregards decency or morality. Physical harm or danger to health is a separate category entirely, so an act can qualify as a nuisance on morality grounds alone, without injuring or endangering anyone.
What the law says
A nuisance is any act, omission, establishment, business, condition of property, or anything else which: (1) Injures or endangers the health or safety of others; or (2) Annoys or offends the senses; or (3) Shocks, defies or disregards decency or morality; or (4) Obstructs or interferes with the free passage of any public highway or street, or any body of water; or (5) Hinders or impairs the use of property.
Civil Code, Article 694 — Nuisance Defined. Read the full provision →
The five independent categories of nuisance
Article 694 defines a nuisance as any act, omission, establishment, business, condition of property, or anything else that falls into one of five categories. It injures or endangers the health or safety of others; or it annoys or offends the senses; or it shocks, defies or disregards decency or morality; or it obstructs or interferes with the free passage of any public highway or street, or any body of water; or it hinders or impairs the use of property. Each of these five is joined by 'or,' meaning any single one, on its own, is enough to make something a nuisance under the article.
Decency or morality as its own ground
The third category is the one that answers your question directly: something that shocks, defies or disregards decency or morality is, by the article's own terms, a nuisance. This stands entirely apart from the first category, which covers injury or danger to health or safety. The structure of the article treats these as separate, independent grounds, not as one combined requirement that both harm and offensiveness must be shown together.
Why physical harm isn't required for this category
Because the five categories are connected by 'or' rather than 'and,' meeting any one of them is sufficient. An act, condition, or business that shocks or disregards decency or morality qualifies as a nuisance under Article 694 even if nobody's health or safety is affected at all. The article does not require the conduct to be dangerous or physically harmful before it can be treated as offensive to public decency in a way the law recognizes as a nuisance.
What kind of things this category can cover
The article's own wording is broad: a nuisance can be an act, an omission, an establishment, a business, a condition of property, or 'anything else' that fits one of the five categories. So a business, a physical condition on a property, or ongoing conduct could all potentially fall under the decency-or-morality category, provided it genuinely shocks, defies, or disregards decency or morality as the article describes, rather than merely being something some people find distasteful.
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.
- Ang Ladlad LGBT Party vs. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 190582, April 8, 2010 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Spouses Pablo Calimlim and Patnubay Isla Calimlim vs. Efren G. Goño and Rafaelita R. Goño, G.R. No. 272053, January 14, 2025 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- The City Government of Caloocan vs. Carmel Development Inc, G.R. No. 240255, January 25, 2023 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Armed Forces of the Philippines vs. Enelinda Amogod, et al, G.R. No. 213753, November 10, 2020 — read the decision on LawPhil →