Text of the provision
Art. 647. One who for the purpose of irrigating or improving his estate, has to construct a stop lock or sluice gate in the bed of the stream from which the water is to be taken, may demand that the owners of the banks permit its construction, after payment of damages, including those caused by the new easement to such owners and to the other irrigators.
(562)
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
One who, to irrigate or improve his estate, must construct a stop lock or sluice gate in the bed of the stream, may do so — on condition that he indemnifies owners for damages, including those from the new servitude.
The right this article grants is conditional, not absolute: a person needing to build a stop lock or sluice gate in a streambed to irrigate or improve his estate may demand that the bank owners permit the construction, but only upon paying damages for the resulting harm. That indemnity is not limited to the bank owners directly affected — it must also cover the other irrigators who draw from the same stream and may be disturbed by the new structure, reflecting how a single construction can affect multiple water users along the same source.
Questions about this provision
Related provisions
- Article 646 — Aqueduct Treated as Continuous and Apparent.
- Article 648 — Special Laws Govern Water Servitudes.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.