Divisible and Indivisible Obligations

1.
The example of Divisible Obligations are as follows:
a. When a debtor is required to deliver 100 kilos of Rice.

b. When a laborer is hired to construct a house for 10 days.
c. When a debtor is required to pay the P10,000 in monthly installments.
The example of Indivisible Obligations are as follows:
a. When a debtor is required to deliver a Honda Civic Type R.

b. When a debtor is required to pay P100,000 at once.
c. When the musicians are hired to plan an orchestra.
2. Yes. Under Article 1225, “When the obligation has for its object the execution
of a certain number of days of work, the accomplishment of work by metrical
units, or analogous things which by their nature are susceptible of partial
performance, it shall be divisible”. Here’s personal obligations wherein the
execution of performance varies in a certain days of work is considered
divisible.
3. No. In divisible obligation, if the illegal terms or provisions can be separated

from the legal ones, the contract or obligation may still be enforced.
4. Yes. Since indivisible obligation is not capable of delivering partial

performance, the illegal term or provision affects the entire obligation.
5. In determining whether an obligation is divisible or not, the controlling

circumstance is not the possibility or impossibility of partial prestation but the
purpose of the obligation or the intention of the parties. Hence, even though
the object or service may be physically divisible, an obligation is indivisible if
so provided by law or intended by the parties. (Art. 1225, par. 3.)
However, if the object is not physically divisible or the service is not

susceptible of partial performance (Art. 1225, par. 1.), the obligation is always
indivisible, the intention of the parties to the contrary notwithstanding. This
rule is absolute. An obligation is presumed indivisible where there is only one
creditor and only one debtor.
WHEN DIVISIBLE OBLIGATION BECOMES INDIVISIBLE
The intention of the parties to bind themselves to an indivisible obligation can be

further discerned through their direct acts in relation to the package deal. There was
only one agreement covering all three (3) units of the Minilab Equipment and their
accessories. The Letter Agreement specified only one purpose for the buyer, which was
to obtain these units for three different outlets. If the intention of the parties were to have
a divisible contract, then separate agreements could have been made for each Minilab
Equipment unit instead of covering all three in one package deal. Furthermore, the 19%
multiple order discount as contained in the Letter Agreement was applied to all three
acquired units. The "no downpayment" term contained in the Letter Agreement was also
applicable to all the Minilab Equipment units. Lastly, the fourth clause of the Letter
Agreement clearly referred to the object of the contract as "Minilab Equipment
Package."
In ruling that the contract between the parties intended to cover divisible
obligations, the Court of Appeals highlighted: (a) the separate purchase price of each
item; (b) petitioners’ acceptance of separate deliveries of the units; and (c) the separate
payment arrangements for each unit. However, through the specified terms and
conditions, the tenor of the Letter Agreement indicated an intention for a single
transaction. This intent must prevail even though the articles involved are physically
separable and capable of being paid for and delivered individually, consistent with the
New Civil Code:
Article 1225. For the purposes of the preceding articles, obligations to give definite
things and those which are not susceptible of partial performance shall be deemed to be
indivisible.
When the obligation has for its object the execution of a certain number of days of work,
the accomplishment of work by metrical units, or analogous things which by their nature
are susceptible of partial performance, it shall be divisible.
However, even though the object or service may be physically divisible, an obligation is
indivisible if so provided by law or intended by the parties. (Spouses Alexander and
Julie Lim vs. Kodak Philippines, Ltd. G.R. No. 167615, January 11, 2016)
In the present case, while the hardware and software are, by their nature,
separable, the parties, however, intended to treat them as indivisible. Such being the
case, the software cannot then be procured without the accompanying hardware on
which they are embedded. In other words, what was purchased by the COMELEC was
the whole system, that is, the entire first component of the original AES Contract, which
includes the software needed for the PCOS machines consisting of the Election
Management System (EMS) and the PCOS firmware applications, protected by our
copyright laws, together with the hardware. Being inseparable by contractual stipulation,
the COMELEC is thus required to procure the hardware and the proprietary software
and firmware provided by Smartmatic-TIM. (Archbishop Fernando R. Capalla, et.al., vs.
COMELEC, et.al., G.R. No. 201112, October 23, 2012)

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1.

The example of Divisible Obligations are as follows:

a. When a debtor is required to deliver 100 kilos of Rice.

The example of Indivisible Obligations are as follows:

a. When a debtor is required to deliver a Honda Civic Type R.

3. No. In divisible obligation, if the illegal terms or provisions can be separated

4. Yes. Since indivisible obligation is not capable of delivering partial

5. In determining whether an obligation is divisible or not, the controlling

However, if the object is not physically divisible or the service is not

The intention of the parties to bind themselves to an indivisible obligation can be

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