Short answer. You have two lawful routes: file a civil action, or abate (stop) the nuisance yourself without going to court. Article 705 of the Civil Code sets out exactly these two remedies against a private nuisance, and the self-help route is tightly limited so you do not create a new wrong.
What the law says
The remedies against a private nuisance are: (1) A civil action; or (2) Abatement, without judicial proceedings.
Civil Code, Article 705 — Remedies Against Private Nuisance. Read the full provision →
The two remedies Article 705 gives you
Article 705 states that The remedies against a private nuisance are: (1) A civil action; or (2) Abatement, without judicial proceedings. A civil action asks a court to order the nuisance stopped and to award you damages for the harm already done. Abatement is self-help: you remove or stop the offending thing yourself, without first suing. The two are alternatives, not a required sequence — you are not forced to sue before acting, nor to act before suing. Which one fits depends on how urgent the harm is, how clear it is that a nuisance truly exists, and how much resistance you expect from the person responsible.
The limits on abating it yourself
Abatement without judicial proceedings is allowed but hedged. The thing must be a genuine private nuisance, you must first demand its removal from the person causing it, and you must abate it in a way that does no unnecessary damage and does not breach the peace. Overstepping any of these turns your remedy into your own wrong. Because the line is easy to cross — pulling down a structure, cutting off water, entering another's land — the safer course when the facts are contested is the civil action, where a court, not you, decides whether the thing is really a nuisance. Self-help suits clear, urgent cases; it is risky wherever reasonable people could disagree.
Private nuisance versus public nuisance
A private nuisance injures you or a limited number of people — smoke, foul odour, noise, water, or an obstruction that affects your property in particular. That differs from a public nuisance, which affects a community or neighbourhood at large; the remedies for those are not identical, and a private person's right to abate a public nuisance is narrower and comes with extra conditions. If the thing troubling you also harms the whole street, treat it as possibly public and get advice before acting alone. Misjudging which category applies is one of the most common ways a well-meant response to a nuisance goes wrong.
What getting it wrong costs
Article 705 gives you a remedy; it does not shield you if you misuse it. If you abate something a court later finds was not a nuisance, or you cause more damage than necessary, you can be made to pay for the harm and may face a complaint of your own. The article does not fix the peso value of your damages, set any deadline, or name the court — those come from other rules and from the specific facts. Keep dated photos, recordings and letters showing the harm and any demand you made. Where the nuisance is ongoing, contested, or tied to a boundary or easement dispute, take the papers to counsel before you act.
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.
- Linda Rana vs. Teresita Lee Wong, et al./Sps Rosario and Wilson Uy, et al. vs. Sps. Reynaldo and Linda Rana, G.R. No. 192861 / G.R. No. 192862, June 30, 2014 — read the decision on LawPhil →