Text of the provision
Art. 123. Whatever may be lost during the marriage in any game of chance or in betting, sweepstakes, or any other kind of gambling whether permitted or prohibited by law, shall be borne by the loser and shall not be charged to the conjugal partnership but any winnings therefrom shall form part of the conjugal partnership property.
(164a)
Family Code of the Philippines, Executive Order No. 209, approved July 6, 1987. The Code took effect on August 3, 1988 (Republic v. Orbecido III, G.R. No. 154380, October 5, 2005). Reproduced in full.
What this article means
Gambling is treated asymmetrically, and deliberately so. If a spouse loses at any game of chance, betting, sweepstakes or gambling — legal or illegal — the loss is theirs alone and cannot be charged to the partnership. But if a spouse wins, the winnings become conjugal property.
The rule protects the family fund from one spouse's losses while still pooling any gains, and it mirrors Article 117(7), which lists winnings by chance among conjugal partnership properties.
Related provisions
- Article 117 — winnings by chance are conjugal property.
- Article 95 — the parallel rule for the absolute community of property.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on Article 123 will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.