Text of the provision
Art. 1868. By the contract of agency a person binds himself to render some service or to do something in representation or on behalf of another, with the consent or authority of the latter.
(1709a)
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
By agency, a person (the agent) binds himself to render service or do something in representation or on behalf of another (the principal), with the latter's consent or authority. Representation is its defining feature.
What separates agency from many other contracts for service is the element of representation: the agent does not merely perform a task for the principal's benefit, he acts in the principal's name, so that the legal consequences of what he does — a contract signed, a payment received — fall on the principal as though the principal had acted himself. This is why the article insists on the principal's consent or authority as a condition: without it, a person acting on another's behalf would simply be acting on his own account, with the resulting rights and obligations remaining his alone.
Questions about this provision
- How does an agency relationship differ from ordinary employment, and what is the central characteristic of a contract of agency?
- What exactly is a contract of agency in Philippine law, and what must be present for an agency to be validly created?
Related provisions
- Article 1866 — Contributor Not a Proper Party.
- Article 1869 — Express or Implied Agency.
Cases citing this article
- Edita A. De Leon, Lara Bianca L. Sarte and Renzo Edgar L. Sarte, G.R. No. 243733, January 12, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Dale Strickland vs. Ernst & Young LLP/Dale Strickland vs. Punongbayan & Araullo, G.R. No. 193782 / G.R. No. 210695, August 1, 2018 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, Limited vs National Steel Corporation and Citytrust Banking Corporation, G.R. No. 183486, February 24, 2016 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Bank of the Philippine Islands and FGU Insurance Corporation vs. Yolanda Laingo, G.R. No. 205206, March 16, 2016 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Alvin Patrimonio vs. Napoleon Gutierrez and Octavio Marasigan III, G.R. No. 187769, June 4, 2014 — 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.