Text of the provision
Art. 1205. When the choice has been expressly given to the creditor, the obligation shall cease to be alternative from the day when the selection has been communicated to the debtor. Until then the responsibility of the debtor shall be governed by the following rules:
(1) If one of the things is lost through a fortuitous event, he shall perform the obligation by delivering that which the creditor should choose from among the remainder, or that which remains if only one subsists;
(2) If the loss of one of the things occurs through the fault of the debtor, the creditor may claim any of those subsisting, or the price of that which, through the fault of the former, has disappeared, with a right to damages;
(3) If all the things are lost through the fault of the debtor, the choice by the creditor shall fall upon the price of any one of them, also with indemnity for damages. The same rules shall be applied to obligations to do or not to do in case one, some or all of the prestations should become impossible.
(1136a)
Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, approved June 18, 1949, effective August 30, 1950. Reproduced in full; verified verbatim against the LawPhil and ChanRobles official-text renderings.
What this article means
When the choice belongs to the creditor, the article details the outcomes if things are lost by fortuitous event (creditor chooses among the rest) or by the debtor's fault (creditor may claim a surviving thing, or the price of the lost one, with damages).
Related provisions
- Article 1204 — Loss of All Alternatives Through Debtor's Fault.
- Article 1206 — Facultative Obligations.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.