Text of the provision
Art. 1254. When the payment cannot be applied in accordance with the preceding rules, or if application can not be inferred from other circumstances, the debt which is most onerous to the debtor, among those due, shall be deemed to have been satisfied. If the debts due are of the same nature and burden, the payment shall be applied to all of them proportionately.
(1174a)
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 application cannot be made by the parties or inferred, payment applies to the most onerous debt among those due; if the debts are of equal burden, it is applied proportionately to all.
Related provisions
- Article 1253 — Interest Applied Before Principal.
- Article 1255 — Payment by Cession.
Cases citing this article
- Premiere Development Bank vs. Spouses Engracio T. Castañeda, G.R. No. 185110, August 19, 2024 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Estanislao and Africa Sinamban vs China Banking Corporation, G.R. No. 193890, March 11, 2015 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- New Sampaguita Builders Construction, Inc., et al. vs. Philippine National Bank, G.R. No. 148753, July 30, 2004 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Compiled automatically from Supreme Court decisions published on LawPhil that expressly cite this article, most frequently cited first. A listing means the decision cites the provision — it is not a statement that the case is the leading authority, and it does not show whether a ruling has since been modified or abandoned. Always read the decision itself.