Short answer. Yes. The Civil Code lets the creditor bring the appropriate actions for the preservation of his right even before the condition is fulfilled. You do not have to wait for the condition to happen before you can act to protect what you stand to receive once it does.
What the law says
The creditor may, before the fulfillment of the condition, bring the appropriate actions for the preservation of his right.
Civil Code, Article 1188 — Rights Pending the Condition. Read the full provision →
Action is allowed before the condition happens
Article 1188 gives the creditor in a conditional obligation a specific power: the creditor may, before the fulfillment of the condition, bring the appropriate actions for the preservation of his right. The obligation itself may still depend on the condition occurring, but the article does not make you wait for that to happen before you can act. Preserving what you stand to gain once the condition is met is treated as something you can pursue while the condition is still pending.
"Preservation" is the specific purpose named
The article ties the available actions to preservation of his right. That is the purpose the article gives for pre-condition action — protecting the right from being defeated, dissipated, or undermined before the condition can even be tested. It does not say the creditor may act to enforce the obligation early, since the obligation itself is not yet due; the article's language is about preserving the right, not accelerating performance of it.
The debtor's parallel protection in the same article
Article 1188 also protects the other side of the relationship: the debtor may recover what during the same time he has paid by mistake in case of a suspensive condition. If the debtor mistakenly pays something while the suspensive condition is still pending, that payment is recoverable. This shows the article is not one-sided — it addresses the pendency period from both the creditor's and the debtor's positions.
What this article does not spell out
Article 1188 establishes that preservation actions are available before the condition is fulfilled; it does not itself list which specific actions qualify as "appropriate" for a given situation. What counts as an appropriate preservation measure depends on the facts of your particular right and what is genuinely at risk of being lost or impaired while the condition remains pending. The article gives you the standing to act early — it leaves the choice of the specific measure to fit the risk you are actually facing.
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.
- Raquel Estipona (Lelandlord E. Sto. Domingo) and Sps. Alberto Co and Lulu Co, G.R. No. 207407, September 29, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →