Text of the provision
Art. 669. When the distances in article 670 are not observed, the owner of a wall which is not party wall, adjoining a tenement or piece of land belonging to another, can make in it openings to admit light at the height of the ceiling joints or immediately under the ceiling, and of the size of thirty centimeters square, and, in every case, with an iron grating imbedded in the wall and with a wire screen. Nevertheless, the owner of the tenement or property adjoining the wall in which the openings are made can close them should he acquire part-ownership thereof, if there be no stipulation to the contrary. He can also obstruct them by constructing a building on his land or by raising a wall thereon contiguous to that having such openings, unless an easement of light has been acquired.
(581a)
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
Where the distances required by article 670 are not met, the owner of a wall that is not a party wall may still make small openings purely to admit light — placed at the ceiling joists or just under the ceiling, thirty centimeters square, and fitted with an iron grating imbedded in the wall and a wire screen. The neighbor may close these openings if he acquires part-ownership of the wall, absent a contrary stipulation, and may also block them by building or raising a wall on his own land unless an easement of light has already been acquired.
Related provisions
- Article 668 — When Light-And-View Prescription Starts.
- Article 670 — Distances For Windows And Views.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.