Short answer. Yes. Article 765 lets you revoke a donation for ingratitude if the donee commits some offense against the person, the honor or the property of the donor, or of his wife or children under his parental authority. An offence against you is exactly the kind of ingratitude the law treats as a ground for taking the gift back.
What the law says
If the donee should commit some offense against the person, the honor or the property of the donor, or of his wife or children under his parental authority
Civil Code, Article 765 — Revocation For Ingratitude. Read the full provision →
Ingratitude as a ground to revoke
A completed donation is not always beyond recall. Article 765 allows a donor to take the gift back by reason of ingratitude, recognising that generosity assumes a basic decency in return. The first and broadest ground is the one in your question: revocation is available if the donee should commit some offense against the person, the honor or the property of the donor, or of his wife or children under his parental authority. The offence need not be against you personally — an offence against your spouse, or your children under your parental authority, counts too. What matters is that the donee wronged the protected circle.
What counts as an offense
The word offense is read broadly. It is not limited to acts that end in a criminal conviction; the law is concerned with the ingratitude the conduct shows, not with the outcome of a prosecution. An assault, a serious injury to your person or reputation, or an attack on your property can all qualify. The point is that the donee has turned against the very person whose generosity they enjoyed. Because the standard is the wrong done rather than a court verdict, you may in principle invoke this ground even where no separate criminal case has run its full course.
The other forms of ingratitude
Article 765 lists two further grounds beyond direct offences. One is where the donee imputes to the donor any criminal offense, or any act involving moral turpitude — a false or malicious accusation — though this is qualified where the crime was actually committed against the donee, their spouse or children. The other is where the donee unduly refuses him support when the donee is legally or morally bound to give support to the donor. Together the three grounds sketch a picture of a donee who has behaved with real ingratitude toward the person who gave the gift.
Limits on revoking for ingratitude
This remedy is real but bounded. It responds to serious ingratitude, not to ordinary friction, disagreement or hurt feelings between donor and donee. The offence must fall within the categories the article lists. Revocation for ingratitude is also subject to a short time limit and to procedural requirements, and it is generally personal to the donor — the law limits how far heirs may pursue it. Rights that innocent third persons acquired over the property before revocation can further affect what you actually get back. Because the window is narrow, a donor who intends to revoke on this ground should act without delay.
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.
- Cerila J. Calanasan, represented by Teodora J. Calanasan as Attorney-in-fact vs. Spouses Virgilio Dolorito and Evelyn C. Dolorito, G.R. No. 171937, November 25, 2013 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Romulo Eduarte, et al. vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 105944, February 9, 1996 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Sps. Agripino and Isabel Gestopa vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 111904, October 5, 2000 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Heirs of Cesario Velasquez, et al. vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 126996, February 15, 2000 — read the decision on LawPhil →