Text of the provision
Art. 38. Minority, insanity or imbecility, the state of being a deaf-mute, prodigality and civil interdiction are mere restrictions on capacity to act, and do not exempt the incapacitated person from certain obligations, as when the latter arise from his acts or from property relations, such as easements.
(32a)
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
Conditions like minority, insanity or imbecility, being a deaf-mute, prodigality, and civil interdiction only restrict capacity to act — they do not erase a person's juridical capacity. Crucially, they do not exempt the person from all obligations: duties arising from their own acts (e.g., a quasi-delict) or from property relations (e.g., an easement burdening their land) still bind them. Incapacity limits the power to bind oneself by contract; it is not a blanket immunity.
Related provisions
- Article 37 — juridical capacity vs. capacity to act.
- Article 39 — the fuller list of modifying circumstances.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.