Philippine legal terms explained
An A to Z of legal terms used in Philippine laws and courts, defined in simple words with the articles that use them.
- Absolute Community of Property: MeaningAbsolute community of property is the default regime for marriages without a prenup since August 3, 1988. What becomes shared and what stays yours.
- Accessory to a Crime: MeaningAn accessory knows a crime was committed and helps only after it: by profiting, hiding evidence or harboring the offender. Articles 19 and 20 explained.
- Accomplice: MeaningAn accomplice helps commit a crime by previous or simultaneous acts but is not a principal. Article 18 of the Revised Penal Code and the lower penalty.
- Acts of Lasciviousness: MeaningActs of lasciviousness is a lewd act done to another person by force or intimidation, or to one who is unconscious. Article 336 and when RA 7610 applies.
- Adultery: Meaning in Philippine LawAdultery is a married woman's sexual intercourse with a man not her husband; he is liable if he knew she was married. Article 333 and who may file.
- Affidavit of Desistance: MeaningAn affidavit of desistance is a sworn statement that the complainant no longer wants to pursue a case. Why courts give it little weight after conviction.
- Aggravating Circumstances: MeaningAggravating circumstances are facts listed in Article 14 of the Revised Penal Code, such as treachery or dwelling, that raise the penalty for a crime.
- Arresto Mayor: Meaning and DurationArresto mayor is a jail penalty of one month and one day to six months under the Revised Penal Code. Its three periods, its class and crimes that carry it.
- Arresto Menor: Meaning and DurationArresto menor is the lightest prison penalty in the Revised Penal Code: one to thirty days. Its three periods, where it is served and crimes that carry it.
- Backwages: Meaning in Philippine Labor LawBackwages are the pay an illegally dismissed worker lost from dismissal to reinstatement. How long they run, and why other earnings are not deducted.
- Bail: Meaning in Philippine LawBail is the security given so a person in custody can be released while the case goes on. The four forms under Rule 114 and when bail is a right.
- Barangay Protection Order (BPO): MeaningA Barangay Protection Order is issued by the Punong Barangay on the day of filing and lasts 15 days. What it orders, who issues it, and what if violated.
- Bigamy: Meaning in Philippine LawBigamy is marrying again while a first marriage still exists. It is a crime under Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code, and the second marriage is void.
- Builder in Good Faith: MeaningA builder in good faith built on land he believed was his, unaware of a flaw in his title. Article 448 of the Civil Code gives the landowner two options.
- Certificate to File Action: MeaningA certificate to file action is the barangay paper that says no settlement was reached. It is needed before many cases can be filed in court.
- Complex Crime: MeaningA complex crime is one act that makes two or more grave or less grave felonies, or a crime done as a necessary means for another. Article 48 explained.
- Compulsory Heir: Meaning in Philippine LawCompulsory heirs are the relatives the law protects with a legitime: children and descendants, parents, the surviving spouse and illegitimate children.
- Concubinage: Meaning in Philippine LawConcubinage is a married man's infidelity in one of three ways set by Article 334 of the Revised Penal Code. The ways, the penalties and who may file.
- Conjugal Partnership of Gains: MeaningConjugal partnership of gains: each spouse keeps what they owned before marriage, and gains made during it are shared. When it applies and what it covers.
- Conspiracy: Meaning in Criminal LawA conspiracy exists when two or more persons agree to commit a felony and decide to commit it. Article 8 of the Revised Penal Code and how courts prove it.
- Constructive Dismissal: MeaningConstructive dismissal is when an employer makes work impossible or unreasonable, or demotes or cuts pay, so the employee is forced out of the job.
- Demerit Points: Meaning in LTO RulesUnder the IRR of RA 10930, the LTO records demerit points per traffic violation: 5 grave, 3 less grave, 1 light. What totals mean and when they reset.
- Direct Assault: MeaningDirect assault is attacking, using force on, seriously intimidating or resisting a person in authority or agent on duty. Article 148 RPC explained.
- Disinheritance: MeaningDisinheritance takes away a compulsory heir's legitime. It is valid only in a will stating a legal cause listed in Articles 915 to 921 of the Civil Code.
- Equitable Mortgage: MeaningAn equitable mortgage is a contract that looks like a sale but really secures a loan. Article 1602 of the Civil Code lists when the law presumes one.
- Estafa: Meaning in Philippine LawEstafa is swindling under Article 315: cheating someone by abuse of trust or by a lie told before they paid. Why an unpaid loan alone is not estafa.
- Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate: MeaningAn extrajudicial settlement lets heirs divide an estate without a court case when there is no will and no debts. What Rule 74 requires and its main risks.
- Falsification of Documents: MeaningFalsification is making a document false by acts listed in Article 171, such as imitating a signature or altering a date. Who is liable and the penalties.
- Family Home: Meaning Under the Family CodeThe family home is the house and lot where a family lives. Under Articles 152 to 162 of the Family Code it is protected from most creditors, with limits.
- Field Personnel: MeaningField personnel work away from the office and their actual hours cannot be determined with reasonable certainty. Why the Labor Code treats them apart.
- Filiation: MeaningFiliation is the legal tie between a child and a parent. It is legitimate or illegitimate, and Articles 172 and 175 of the Family Code say how to prove it.
- Floating Status: Meaning in Philippine Labor LawFloating status is a temporary off-detail or lay-off with no work assigned. It may last up to six months; then the worker must be recalled or retrenched.
- Fortuitous Event: MeaningA fortuitous event could not be foreseen or, if foreseen, was inevitable. Under Article 1174 of the Civil Code it can excuse a party from liability.
- Four-Fold Test: MeaningThe four-fold test is how Philippine courts decide if someone is an employee: hiring, wages, power to dismiss and control. The control test matters most.
- Frustrated Felony: MeaningA felony is frustrated when the offender does every act of execution but the crime still does not happen, for causes outside his will. Article 6 explained.
- Holiday Pay: Meaning Under the Labor CodeHoliday pay is the regular daily wage paid on a regular holiday even without work, and twice that rate when the employee works. Who is covered.
- Holographic Will: MeaningA holographic will is a will written entirely, dated and signed by the hand of the person making it. Article 810 of the Civil Code: no witnesses needed.
- Illegitimate Child: Legal MeaningAn illegitimate child is one conceived and born outside a valid marriage (Family Code Art. 165). Surname, parental authority, support and legitime.
- Intestate Succession: Meaning in Philippine LawIntestate succession is inheritance by law when a person dies without a valid will or the will does not cover all property. Who inherits and in what order.
- Katarungang Pambarangay: MeaningKatarungang Pambarangay is the barangay justice system for settling disputes without court. What the lupon and the pangkat are, and how settlement works.
- Labor-Only Contracting: MeaningLabor-only contracting is when an agency without substantial capital supplies workers for a company's main business. The company is the real employer.
- Legal Interest: Meaning in Philippine LawLegal interest is the rate the law applies when no rate was agreed in writing: 6% a year since July 1, 2013 under BSP Circular No. 799, and 12% before.
- Legal Redemption: MeaningLegal redemption is the right to step into a buyer's place on the same terms. Articles 1619 to 1623 of the Civil Code: co-owners and the 30-day period.
- Legal Separation: Meaning in Philippine LawLegal separation lets spouses live apart by court decree, but the marriage stays. Its grounds, deadline and effects, and why no one can remarry.
- Legitimation: Meaning in Philippine LawLegitimation makes a child born outside marriage legitimate when the parents later marry each other. Who qualifies under Article 177 and its effects.
- Legitime: Meaning in Philippine LawThe legitime is the part of a person's estate that the law reserves for compulsory heirs, such as children and the spouse. A will cannot take it away.
- Libel: Meaning in Philippine LawLibel is a public, malicious imputation that dishonors a person, made in writing or similar means. The Article 353 definition and how cyber libel differs.
- Management Prerogative: MeaningManagement prerogative is the employer's right to run the business: schedules, assignments, transfers, discipline. Its meaning and limits in court rulings.
- Managerial Employee: MeaningA managerial employee manages the business or a department and can hire, fire or discipline. The Labor Code defines the term three ways for three purposes.
- Moral Damages: Meaning in Philippine LawMoral damages pay for suffering such as mental anguish, fright or social humiliation. When the Civil Code allows them and why there is no fixed amount.
- Night Shift Differential: MeaningNight shift differential is extra pay of at least 10% of the regular wage for each hour worked between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Its rules and who is excluded.
- Notarial Will: MeaningA notarial will is signed by the testator and three or more witnesses, has an attestation clause and is acknowledged before a notary (Articles 805, 806).
- Oral Defamation (Slander): Meaning in Philippine LawOral defamation, or slander, is spoken defamation under Article 358. How serious and slight slander differ, the penalties and the six-month deadline.
- Pactum Commissorium: MeaningPactum commissorium is a clause letting a creditor take the mortgaged or pledged property automatically if the debt is unpaid. Article 2088 makes it void.
- Parental Authority: Meaning in Philippine LawParental authority is the set of rights and duties parents have over a child's person and property. Who holds it, why it cannot be waived, when it ends.
- Parricide: Meaning in Philippine LawParricide is the killing of one's father, mother, child, other ascendant or descendant, or spouse. Article 246 explained, with its penalty after RA 9346.
- Perjury: MeaningPerjury is knowingly lying under oath or in an affidavit on a material matter. Article 183 as amended by RA 11594: the elements and the penalty.
- Person in Authority: MeaningWho is a person in authority, and who is only an agent, under Article 152 RPC: judges, barangay chairmen, teachers, lawyers, police officers.
- Prenuptial Agreement (Marriage Settlement): MeaningA prenuptial agreement, or marriage settlement, fixes a couple's property regime. It must be in writing and signed before the wedding. What it can cover.
- Presumptive Death: Meaning in Philippine LawPresumptive death: when the law presumes a missing person dead, and the court declaration a spouse needs before remarrying (4 years, or 2 in danger cases).
- Preterition: MeaningPreterition is the total omission of a compulsory heir in the direct line from a will. Under Article 854 it annuls the institution of heir.
- Preventive Suspension: MeaningPreventive suspension keeps a worker off work during an investigation when his presence threatens life or property. It may not last longer than 30 days.
- Principal of a Crime: MeaningA principal commits the crime, directly forces or induces another to commit it, or does an act without which it would fail. Article 17 RPC explained.
- Prision Correccional: Meaning and DurationPrision correccional lasts six months and one day to six years under the Revised Penal Code. Its three periods and the crimes that carry it.
- Prision Mayor: Meaning and DurationPrision mayor is a prison penalty of six years and one day to twelve years under the Revised Penal Code. Its three periods, its class and its crimes.
- Probate: MeaningProbate is the court case that proves a will and allows it. Under Article 838 of the Civil Code, no will passes property until it is allowed in probate.
- Probation: Meaning in Philippine LawProbation lets a convicted person stay free under court conditions and a probation officer instead of serving the sentence. Who is disqualified and when.
- Project Employee: MeaningA project employee is hired for a specific project whose end was set at hiring. What Article 295 [280] says and when a project worker is presumed regular.
- Psychological Incapacity: Meaning in Philippine LawPsychological incapacity is the Article 36 Family Code ground that makes a marriage void. Its meaning in plain words, and how Tan-Andal changed it in 2021.
- Qualified Theft: Meaning in Philippine LawQualified theft is theft by a domestic servant, with grave abuse of confidence, or of property named in Article 310. How it differs from ordinary theft.
- Quasi-Delict: Meaning in Philippine LawA quasi-delict is damage caused by fault or negligence when there is no contract between the parties. Article 2176 of the Civil Code, with examples.
- Quieting of Title: MeaningQuieting of title is a court action to remove a cloud on title to land, a claim or document that looks valid but is not. Article 476 of the Civil Code.
- Quitclaim: MeaningA quitclaim is a document in which a worker receives an amount and gives up further claims against the employer. When courts uphold it and when not.
- Reckless Imprudence: Meaning in Philippine LawReckless imprudence is causing harm by an inexcusable lack of care, without malice. The Article 365 definition, simple imprudence and the penalties.
- Reclusion Perpetua: Meaning and DurationReclusion perpetua, the heaviest prison penalty of the Revised Penal Code, lasts 20 years and 1 day to 40 years. Its rules on parole, bail and time limits.
- Reclusion Temporal: Meaning and DurationReclusion temporal is a prison penalty of twelve years and one day to twenty years under the Revised Penal Code. Its periods, its class and its crimes.
- Regular Employee: MeaningA regular employee does work usually necessary or desirable in the employer's business. Article 295 [280] explained, with project and casual work.
- Rescission: MeaningRescission cancels a contract and requires both sides to return what they received. Article 1191 allows it for a substantial breach of reciprocal duties.
- Retirement Pay: Meaning Under the Labor CodeRetirement pay is the amount an employer owes a retiring employee under Article 302 [287]: at least one-half month salary for every year of service.
- Robbery: Meaning in Philippine LawRobbery is taking another's property with intent to gain, by violence, intimidation or force upon things. Article 293 and how it differs from theft.
- Security of Tenure: Meaning in Philippine Labor LawSecurity of tenure means an employer may dismiss an employee only for a just or authorized cause. What Article 294 [279] says and what an employee can get.
- Separation Pay: Meaning Under the Labor CodeSeparation pay is owed when an employer ends a job for an authorized cause, such as redundancy, retrenchment, closure or disease. What the Labor Code says.
- Service Charge: Meaning Under the Labor CodeA service charge is what hotels and restaurants add to the bill. Under the Labor Code all of it goes in equal shares to covered workers, not managers.
- Service Incentive Leave (SIL): MeaningService incentive leave (SIL) is the yearly five days of paid leave the Labor Code gives employees with at least one year of service. Who is excluded.
- Solutio Indebiti: MeaningSolutio indebiti is the duty to return something received by mistake when there was no right to demand it. It is a quasi-contract under Article 2154.
- Special Power of Attorney (SPA): MeaningA special power of attorney (SPA) is an express authority for an agent to do a specific act, such as selling land. Article 1878 lists when one is needed.
- Strike: Meaning in Labor LawA strike is a temporary work stoppage by employees acting together because of a labor dispute. Its legal meaning, the grounds, and the steps required.
- Subsidiary Imprisonment: MeaningSubsidiary imprisonment is jail time served by a convict who has no property to pay a fine. Article 39 of the Revised Penal Code, its rate and its limits.
- Substitute Parental Authority: MeaningSubstitute parental authority applies when the parents die, are absent or unsuitable: the grandparent, then an adult sibling or custodian, has it.
- Suretyship: MeaningIn a suretyship, a person binds himself solidarily with the debtor, so the creditor may collect from the surety directly. Article 2047 of the Civil Code.
- Tender-Age Presumption: Meaning in Philippine LawThe tender-age presumption keeps a child under seven with the mother unless a court finds compelling reasons. What Article 213 says and what counts.
- 13th Month Pay: Legal Meaning (PD 851)13th month pay is a yearly benefit under PD 851 of at least 1/12 of the basic salary earned in a calendar year. Its legal basis and what Honda (2005) held.
- Unfair Labor Practice: MeaningAn unfair labor practice (ULP) is an act listed in the Labor Code that attacks the workers' right to organize and bargain. Its meaning and who decides it.
- Unjust Enrichment: MeaningUnjust enrichment means gaining something at another's expense without just or legal ground. Article 22 of the Civil Code says it must be returned.
- Unjust Vexation: Meaning in Philippine LawUnjust vexation is any act that unjustly annoys or irritates an innocent person, even without harm. Its basis in Article 287 and the penalty.
- Unlawful Aggression: Meaning in Philippine LawUnlawful aggression is an actual or imminent unlawful physical attack. It is the key element of self-defense; a mere threatening attitude is not enough.
- Unlawful Detainer: Meaning in Philippine LawUnlawful detainer is the case to recover a house or land from someone whose stay was lawful at first, like a tenant, but who refuses to leave after demand.
- Void Marriage: Meaning in Philippine LawA void marriage is invalid from the start under the Family Code. Which marriages are void, why there is no deadline, and why a court ruling is needed.
- Voidable Marriage: Meaning in Philippine LawA voidable marriage has a defect at the wedding that lets a court annul it under Article 45 of the Family Code. The six grounds and five-year deadlines.
- Wage Distortion: MeaningWage distortion happens when a wage increase wipes out the pay gaps between job levels in a company. Its meaning, four elements, and how it is corrected.
General information, not legal advice. For your case, ask a lawyer, the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) or the agency.
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