When did the New Civil Code take effect?
In the case of Lara v. Del Rosario (G.R. No. 6339, 50 Official Gazette 1957),
the date in question was September 4, 1950. However, despite the seeming
irrelevance of the date of effectivity of the New Civil Code, the Supreme Court,
via an obiter dictum (an opinion which is beside the point; saying, "by the
way") said that the New Civil Code of the Philippines took effect on August 30,
1950. The decision is quoted below:
"As to the month pay (mesada) under article 302 of the Code of Commerce, article 2270 of the new Civil Code (Republic Act 386) appears to have repealed said Article 302 when it repealed the provisions of the Code of Commerce governing Agency. This repeal took place on August 30, 1950, when the new Civil Code went into effect, that is, one year after its publication in the Official Gazette. The alleged termination of services of the plaintiffs by the defendant took place according to the complaint on September 4, 1950, that is to say, after the repeal of Article 302 which they invoke."
August 30, 1950 is exactly one year after the Official Gazette was
released for circulation, containing
a copy of the New Civil Code.
However, this ruling has been the subject of criticisms from civil law experts
and authors because the law itself says: "This Code shall take effect one year
after such publication." (Article 2). Note that the law says "after publication," not "after circulation." Moreover, under the Revised Administrative Code
(Section 11 thereof), for the purpose of fixing the date of issue of the
Official Gazette, it is conclusively presumed to be published on the date
indicated therein as the date of issue."
It should be remembered that the June 1949 issue (which contained the publication of the contents of the New Civil Code) of the Official Gazette was
circulated on August 30, 1949. On this, the famous civil law author Paras said in his book:
While it is no doubt desirable that the date of issue should be the same as the date of circulation, for otherwise the public may be unduly prejudiced, still no amount of judicial legislation can or should outweigh the express provision of Sec. 11 of the Revised Administrative Code. Dura lex sed lex (“the law may be harsh but it is the law’’).
Uncertainties will definitely arise if the date of publication is to be
determined by the date of the actual release of the a newspaper.
