Text of the provision
Art. 720. If the owner should appear in time, he shall be obliged to pay, as a reward to the finder, one-tenth of the sum or of the price of the thing found.
(616a)
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 renderings and the Official Gazette, all three of which agree word for word.
What this article means
Fixes the price of honesty. If the owner of lost property appears in time, he is obliged to pay the finder one-tenth of the sum, or of the price of the thing found. It is a legal entitlement, not a gratuity: the finder who follows the procedure for reporting a find does not depend on the owner's goodwill.
Related provisions
- Article 599 — Collecting Credits That Form Part of the Usufruct.
- Article 1197 — When the Court Fixes the Period.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.
Note. The text of the provision above is reproduced in full from the official enactment (Republic Act No. 386), verified against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings. The annotation and commentary around it are the work of Vivas & Nobles Law Office and are general legal information, not legal advice. How a provision applies to a particular situation depends on facts that only a lawyer reviewing your case can assess.