Short answer. It depends on fault. Article 1194 of the Civil Code applies the rules of Article 1189 to loss or deterioration before a day certain arrives: if the thing is lost without the debtor's fault, the obligation is extinguished; if it merely deteriorates without fault, you as creditor bear that impairment; fault by the debtor shifts the loss instead.
What the law says
In case of loss, deterioration or improvement of the thing before the arrival of the day certain, the rules in article 1189 shall be observed.
Civil Code, Article 1194 — Loss Before the Period Arrives. Read the full provision →
What the law says
If the thing is lost without the fault of the debtor, the obligation shall be extinguished
Civil Code, Article 1189 — Loss, Deterioration, Improvement Pending a Suspensive Condition. Read the full provision →
What the law says
When the thing deteriorates without the fault of the debtor, the impairment is to be borne by the creditor
Civil Code, Article 1189 — Loss, Deterioration, Improvement Pending a Suspensive Condition. Read the full provision →
Why a period-based obligation borrows the rules for a condition
Article 1194 addresses obligations tied to a day certain, a definite future date, rather than a condition. Even though a period and a condition are different concepts, since a period is certain to arrive while a condition may never happen, Article 1194 says that in case of loss, deterioration or improvement of the thing before the arrival of the day certain, the rules in Article 1189 shall be observed. The same allocation of risk that applies while a condition is pending is borrowed for the time before a fixed delivery date arrives.
What Article 1189 says about loss without fault
Applying Article 1189's rules, if the thing is lost without the fault of the debtor, meaning through no wrongdoing on the part of whoever owed you the thing, the obligation is extinguished entirely. In your situation, if the damage genuinely amounts to a total loss and the debtor was not at fault for it, the debtor's obligation to deliver the thing simply ends, and there would generally be nothing further to deliver or to demand from that point on.
What happens with mere deterioration, as opposed to total loss
Where the thing merely deteriorates, rather than being wholly lost, and this happens without the debtor's fault, Article 1189 places that impairment on the creditor, meaning you. This reflects that you, as the one who stands to receive the thing, generally bear the risk of a decline in its condition that nobody caused through fault, once the specific thing was already identified as what you were to receive under the obligation.
How fault changes the outcome
If the debtor was at fault for the loss, Article 1189 instead makes the debtor obliged to pay damages rather than being excused by the loss. If the debtor was at fault for a mere deterioration rather than total loss, you as creditor may choose between rescinding the obligation or insisting on its fulfillment, with indemnity for damages available either way. Fault on the debtor's part therefore shifts the burden away from you and gives you additional options the fault-free scenario does not.
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.
- National Power Corporation vs Socorro T. Posada, Renato Bueno, Alice Balin, Adrian Tablizo, et al, G.R. No. 191945, March 11, 2015 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Agustin P. Dela Torre vs. The Hon. Court of Appeals, et al./Philippine Trigon Shipyard Corporation, et al. vs. Crisostomo G. Concepcion, et al, G.R. No. 160088 / G.R. No. 160565, July 13, 2011 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Sergio Osmeña III, et al. vs. SS etc., et al, G.R. No. 165272, September 13, 2007 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Heirs of TImoteo Moreno, et al. vs. Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority, G.R. No. 156273, October 15, 2003 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 1194 — Loss Before the Period Arrives
- Civil Code, Article 1189 — Loss, Deterioration, Improvement Pending a Suspensive Condition